ok. fine. then i want my money back.
Technically speaking you purchased a license to download/play those games, as long as the license is still valid (determined by the issuer). Every digital marketplace/publisher has this ability, and has happened with several games on Steam and Epic, all without refunds. Sadly this is the world we live in.
Hopefully the stop-gap of them delisting 18+ games while they are being blackmailed by VISA/Mastercard will have a better outcome. But as Steam has routinely removed/banned games VISA has deemed against THEIR policies, I wouldn't hold my breath with Itch. Steam has much more deeper pockets, and they succumbed to the pressure.
https://x.com/letsmaybeLP92/status/1948544883410829370 According to this user, banned games should still have download files available. The shots with no downloads available are from devs who removed content from their own pages for various reasons.
This is not completely true. There are several games that were removed that now have the text "This game's files have been suspended by an itch.io administrator." It's not the end of the world, but they are screwing over some of the users along with the developers who now have their funds frozen and are not able to withdraw any money.
All this does is encourage people to download pirated versions of the game that they already purchased.
Edit: I have one game that was for $20 that I am no longer able to access that I purchased less than 4 months ago. As a user, I will never ever purchase anything from this site again if there is another site that I can purchase it from again.
Yeah, this is honestly really frustrating. If you paid for a game, you should still be able to download it, even if it gets delisted later. Sadly, when devs remove files or accounts get taken down, buyers can lose access too. It’s a good reminder to download and back up your games as soon as you buy them. Hopefully itch.io support can help in your case, but it definitely feels unfair to paying customers.
Yeah, this situation really sucks. Paying for a game and then suddenly losing access feels wrong, even if it’s buried somewhere in the terms. I get that platforms have pressure from payment processors or policy changes, but buyers end up taking the hit. It definitely makes me think twice and download backups right away, because digital ownership clearly isn’t as solid as it sounds.