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Give me my money or my purchase back!

A topic by HellishLimbo created Jul 25, 2025 Views: 1,909 Replies: 31

Viewing posts 1 to 6

HellishLimbo118 days ago(+16)

Either return my purchases to my library, or refund me my purchase! The game I purchased did not violate any laws nor did me buying it violate any laws yet you have taken it out of my library and have made it impossible to search for the game. You did this because instead of standing up for yourselves, and the people that use your site and telling VISA, MasterCard, and PayPal to fuck off to you backed down. You could have TRIED coming up with alternative methods for people to makes purchases, but you didn't. You instead chose to screw everybody over in a effort to try and save yourselves, and now because of you and Steam this situation has gotten out of control. Pray gamers win this censorship war for you because if we lose we will not feel bad about all of you running itch losing your jobs and all your income you got from running this sight and will have zero sympathy for you. If anything if we lose, you and steam both will be reviled and viewed as traitors to free speech and creativity forever.

letsmaybeLP92118 days ago(+1)

Can you share a screenshot of what your purchase page now looks like for the game that you no longer have access for? If you have purchased a game, you should have a receipt for the game or the game stub should be in your library still. Removed access to a game should look something like this.

HellishLimbo116 days ago

There is nothing to show, the email for the purchase got ate by gmail auto delete over a year ago, my library only had 2 games in it and one of them is gone and the proof of purchase on the site is also gone.

letsmaybeLP92116 days ago

so then contact support and tell them all that. Tell them the email you bought the game with. And any info that can help you get your purchase back.

No Time To PlayModerator117 days ago

Please read the rules of this category. Posting here doesn't help. Our admins have said refunds will be issued, but not when or how.

LilyMerp117 days ago(+11)

Will they be contacting us about each and every item that's been removed? Also hoping the refunds are coming from itch.io and not being charged back to the artists, since this is itch.io's choice.

No Time To PlayModerator117 days ago

Nobody knows yet. Please wait.

methodia117 days ago(+13)

With respect, someone needs to give us information.

If refunds are being charged to the creators, you've got a lot of people who made sales in good faith on games that were allowed on the platform. By refunding transactions historically, that means a lot of people may be about to get fucked with a massive refund or chargeback. It's all well and good just saying we need to wait, but in this case there's a potential massive financial hit people might be about to take because of some nutjobs in Australia and a lack of transparency here.

No Time To PlayModerator116 days ago

Of course, but we can only pass on available information. So far there isn't any. Everyone's been asking non-stop all Saturday.

LilyMerp116 days ago(+12)

"If you've collected money while in violation of terms, we may be forced to refund or freeze all pending transactions, as accounts that are in violation of our terms are not eligible for payouts."

I waited for an answer and the TOS gave one, it doesn't seem like there's going to be any good faith action on itch's part. It's basically running open-armed towards 1930s censorship and inviting a bunch of possible legal consequences from artists. I had a 2 year old pixel game from my library made so it can't be downloaded and no contact was made to let me download it beforehand or explain its removal. It looks like a cash grab before the site is shuttered since they've thrown away all trust. The new terms of service basically say that itch can steal from artists for "violating" extremely vague and arbitrary guidelines. Not just for the one listing, but all revenue across their whole account. Freeze really means seize.

MothOnMars113 days ago(+1)

“Everyone’s been asking non-stop”

Without respect, cry me a river. You’re lucky this hasn’t become a site-wide boycott.

DaveSan116 days ago(+5)

Go fuck yourself.

Onya117 days ago(+15)

Asking people to please wait, yet giving no for warning to the removals of games from the store and libraries, and seizing up funds from artists that do not match Itch's sudden puritan ways is kind of salt in the wound, don't ya think? Itch sure as heck didn't wait wait on that one, huh.

No Time To PlayModerator116 days ago(+2)

Of course, but we can only pass on available information. So far there isn't any. Everyone's been asking non-stop all Saturday.

Onya116 days ago(+5)

It is at least somewhat understandable. Reading a lot into it, kind of gets people very heated on. Just kind of depressing is all. It is not like I make anything that got flagged, but seems be a very wide net. Hopefully one day it gets corrected or a positive ending. Just frustrating for a lot of people, and I am sure it frustrates Itch themselves too. I am guessing they did it to save majority of the site and content. Just sad that some processors and a small group get to have so much power in a realm they probably have no stake in you know? Sorry if came off aggressive, but just bad news after bad news this year kind of stacks up. I apologize for that.

methodia116 days ago(+4)

So when will someone actually talk to the people making the decisions and get an update or clarifications?

Right now the threat is for all historic sales to be refunded which means the only safe way for creators to avoid getting hit with potentially thousands of dollars of refunds is to disconnect their payment details and effectively shutter their games just in case. Every dreg of information coming through seems to make it more and more likely that creators will get screwed and nobody seems to care enough to actually find out what is going to happen.

The "available information" is poor. Even the new restricted content list is so vague in places that its hard to tell what actually is prohibited:

Bestiality or animal-related

The first part is clear, but the second part could mean anything is banned, from furries to farming sims to things like The Witcher.

What seems clear is that the people in charge are aware of how vague the rules are and are deliberately being vague so they can hit creators with thousands of historical refunds without warning people it'll happen. Which has basically turned indie development here into a real risk of bankruptcies and debt because the rules suddenly changed. Plus if creators have paypal set as their payment details, Paypal only allows up to 180 days for refunds, so if the plan is just to charge people for stuff beyond that, it'll be in breach of Paypals terms as well.

Again, with respect, someone needs to actually talk to the people up top and get clarifications because this has serious ramifications for a lot of people and the miniscule amount of actual information is crap.

No Time To PlayModerator116 days ago

Our admins chime in every few hours. They're aware that the community expects answers. So far they haven't said when we can expect official clarifications.

methodia116 days ago(+4)

In that case the only reasonable response to protect myself as a creator is to disable sales and downloads for my games and disconnect payment processors.

If Itch can suddenly ban a game and refund all sales for it then keeping sales, downloads and a payment processor is just unsafe and risks permanent financial damage. At this point its clear that Itch is keeping quiet about it simply because they want to hit creators with these refunds before they have a chance to do anything about it. Commit to refunds but push the costs onto the creators in a way that eases the financial burden on Itch while throwing people who sold their games in good faith under the bus.

I'd recommend all creators who had their games delisted should do the same until their game is either restored or banned.

letsmaybeLP92116 days ago

That would be unfair for those who can access the games still and had purchased (unless you mean downloads without claiming)

methodia116 days ago

It just stops new purchases. People who have bought it can still download.

letsmaybeLP92116 days ago

I think creators should be more proactive letting those who had purchased that their downloads are safe. For there are people who can't find a game in search and assume that they can't download anymore and may try to chargeback or request a refund for something they still own. (Another problem area is that a lot of people ASSUME that a game that they downloaded without purchasing or claiming was in their library)

methodia116 days ago

Well, unfortunately, until itch bothers to make any kind of clarifications, the risk of losing literally everything I own is not worth keeping the game available for sale. I'm living paycheck to paycheck and game sales helped a bit but not enough to make much of a difference in finances. But it's been a slow trickle for 3 years which adds up to a decent amount of money. Based on what itch have said so far, if my game gets removed, I could be liable to repay that entire whack in one go without even being able to argue my case. I know my game doesn't have the banned content, but when they have 21k games to vet, they're not going to bother looking too closely at each one before banning something off of first impressions.

Them forcing a refund for 3 years of sales would literally bankrupt me, and I suspect a lot of others will be in the same position.

I've been working on this thing for 3 years, I don't want to take the thing down, but if its a choice between letting people download it or being made homeless, then the game is the one getting it until the situation gets clarified. Creators need to put themselves first and not risk their actual lives by crossing their fingers and hoping their game escapes.

letsmaybeLP92116 days ago

I'm not arguing that creators need to keep something up for sale, or that creators need to stay in business with itch if they feel like they just can't afford to do so. But they should honor the support by users (provided that they could prove purchase or ownership in their account)

letsmaybeLP92116 days ago

Removal of games from libraries is something that creators/devs have done as well. So when developers and creators remove game downloads from games they purchased without warning, who do we blame?

methodia116 days ago(+1)

Itch. There hasn't been clarification on anything. Creators are removing their games because if what itch is suggesting is correct, then those creators could be hit with thousands of dollars of refunds. Its not worth risking it.

I've heard some people suggest that those devs shouldn't have spent the money from sales, but being honest, when you get paid for work, do you store all of that money just in case someone changes a rule and you have to refund everything? Right now, would you be able to pay back a lump sum of $5000 that you accumulated piecemeal over 3 years?

That is why devs are removing their games. They posted them when they were allowed by the rules. Now the rules have changed and the implication is that they are liable for every refund. People can't do that or even risk it until the situation is clarified.

Put yourself in our position. What would you do?

letsmaybeLP92116 days ago

true on that end, but creators shouldn't be removing downloads to purchased content. There have been cases of some devs completing deleting their storefront pages and erasing content. If a user cared and could prove that they purchased certain content, itch could put that onus back on creators. I'm not saying creators shouldn't get clarification from itch and boycott in their own way, but they shouldn't punish people who donated to them. Say Ubisoft or Devolver Digital removed a game from Steam because they disagreed with the platform's policies, and also made all games unplayable without warning users. Should Ubisoft of Devolver be let off the hook?

RedRapture114 days ago

Why don't you go talk to a lawyer and a few other impacted creators, then see about a class action lawsuit or something. Itch has very clearly broken faith here.

MothOnMars114 days ago

Whoever is saying devs shouldn’t have spent the money they earned from their own sales in what’s supposed to be a free market (we all know that’s a joke when platforms can just decide to get rid of us) needs to pick up one single book, jfc.

letsmaybeLP92114 days ago

no one is claiming that creators shouldn't spend money from sales. The big issue is when they remove downloads to their products, especially to those who paid for it. Customers should also understand that they shouldn't refund just to make a statement without thinking about the consequences to creators' income.

MothOnMars113 days ago

A) Methodia is who said they heard that, not you, so that’s who I was replying to. B) I never said creators should remove access to their downloads.

Elfyrane114 days ago(+2)

Honestly, we all should get together and file a class action lawsuit to take all these companies down. They broke our trust. We should break them.

Onya112 days ago

Well, at least it seems pressure has helped, given the recent announcement of itch looking for new payment processors. I am sure once one site finds a good processor, many sites may adopt it. Hopefully this resolves all the chaos, though does still leave a stain on both steam and itch for initially faltering.

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