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Our game has been incorrectly marked as adult and de-indexed despite having no NSFW content

A topic by devilinlovegames created Aug 10, 2025 Views: 1,021 Replies: 12

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devilinlovegames233 days ago (1 edit)

Hi!

Our game is currently in its demo phase and does not contain any NSFW content at this time. Despite this, it has been marked as adult and de-indexed, seemingly due to content that has not yet been implemented.

While the game’s full version will include characters who are survivors of traumatic events (rape, incest, child abuse), there are no explicit scenes depicting these events, only their emotional impact on the characters’ lives and decisions. These themes are narrative elements, not sexual content. The current demo doesn’t reference these themes at all, and we’ve removed them from warning tags to prevent confusion.

The demo is also listed as "no payments," complying with de-indexing policies. We’ve observed that many NSFW games were de-indexed while ours remained unaffected until now, which seems inconsistent given our demo’s actual content.

We haven’t received a response from the support team for 9 days (Our Support Ticket #299053) and would appreciate clarification. Thank you for your time and assistance.

redonihunter233 days ago(+1)

You serious? You think that game with that blood covered bare chested guy licking a knife is safe for minors and the work place?

While the setting says content marked as adult for users, it says Has sensitive content — This project is not suited for minors or the workplace for developers.

Can you honestly claim your game has no sensitive content and is suited for minors?

Itch is not a ratings board and their category of nsfw is not the same as adults only.

A Fals Fiction233 days ago (1 edit)

Not sure what country you’re in or what’s allowed there, but what you described has been in “all ages and children’s-market media for the past several decades.

Do you honestly think that should now be classified as “adult NSFW” on Itch.io? Along with gore horror and explicit smut?

redonihunter233 days ago

Itch only has yes or no for the sensitive question. It has no granular distinction just how sensitive or why.

And yes, that particular game, especially with that cover and the topics in the game, even without explicit graphics, is something that I would answer with yes on the sensitive question.

Skirting between M (17+) and AO (18+) is splitting hairs here. Itch's nsfw category is not an official age rating, and trying to be technically sfw is not helping the case, should staff have made a decision here. For all we know someone reported the game as being offensive, because it was not marked as adult.

A Fals Fiction233 days ago (1 edit)

“You think that game with that blood covered bare chested guy licking a knife is safe for minors and the work place?”

I think the confusion of what’s allowed to be in search results— even for adult accounts that were set by the account holder to view pages marked as sensitive— are hurting creators and players. And people who are confused and maybe scared from how this is affecting them are digging for answers from dishonest statements that are adding to frustration.

I think the statement about the “adult” label came from Itch.io’s official documentation describing that term as meaning sexually explicit. You might consider the character on the cover image erotic, but is it— generally? It’s so sexual that the entire Horror game should not be allowed to appear for people who search for its name?

(It’s the nipples, isn’t it? Tsk. It’s always the nipples these days.)

Now that I’ve looked at the page, do I consider it for older teens and up? Yeah, for its mature themes.

Is it “safe for work”? Who the hell knows what that really means. Nothing on itch.io was allowed (or it was risky) while I was in the workplace except when working at home, on my own computer, not connected to the office’s network. That label has always looked like BS to me. The “sensitive” label with a description was one of the selling points for me coming onto this site because it wasn’t a completely indecipherable term.

I think the fact that this game is allowed on Patreon shows it’s not restricted from payment processing, which is the line Itch.io is currently setting for the definition of “NSFW”.

redonihunter233 days ago

I am not sure what your point is and your arguments are hard to follow, especially the last bit about how nsfw would be defined by what games can be paid for on Patreon.

There is three separate issues here.

The game is delisted because it is quarantined. Waiting time for staff to index or unquarantine were several weeks even before the recent mess. There is no reason this game should be expedited before all the other games waiting for indexing and quarantine examination.

Itch does not accept payments for most adult games at the moment and about half of all the adult games are currently not indexed. That the game is on Patreon would not be a blanket pass to be ok under whatever Itch currently is implementing to appease their payment processors. For one, games get removed from Patreon all the time after being there for months. And there are games on Patreon that have a different version on Itch. But since the demo version is unpaid, that is actually not a discussion at the moment.

The game is currently marked as nsfw. Read my reply to that issue here https://itch.io/post/13784309

A Fals Fiction233 days ago(+1)

There, that is an actual answer to the original post. The first initial reply to a request for help was overt aggression.

Going back up: “Itch’s nsfw category is not an official age rating”— true.

The term here is separate from adult. NSFW as defined by Itch.io’s policy and latest blog post is basically “whatever the payment processors might not allow.”

The current shadowbanning (mass unlisting without the communication promised for quarantines) was said to be for dealing with “adult NSFW” projects— specifically sexualized content not allowed to be purchased with money.

Not everyone agrees what’s sexy. The game is now listed for free here. Its creator clearly believes it falls within the rules.

Itch.io moderators are who will decide on if it gets indexed or not. That could be today. Could be next year. There are long delays and little transparency in the process.

I hope the page is indexed quickly so more domestic horror fans find it. The layout is beautiful. The game seems to go through unique themes thoughtfully. The site situation with projects marked as sensitive sucks; it’s still affecting too many people.

redonihunter232 days ago

That's not aggression, that's bewilderment how one can think the game would be ok for minors.

Your choice of words and your grammar is confusing to me. Things you claim are misrepresented or misunderstood. No, payment processors did not forbid "adult" nsfw projects to be purchased. And no, payment processors do not set criteria for what is nsfw or what is not. Itch was threatened to either deal with certain nsfw content or else lose contract with the payment processors completely. So they went to full stopp to sort out the content and they did that by what you call erronously a shadow ban. They just delisted everything, instead of taking weeks and months to sort it all through. They had an ultimatum, a deadline they could not have met otherwise.

But all this is besides the point. Go discuss this in all the other threas about the recent troubles. The recent trouble is most likely not the reason that the game is classified as nsfw and it is not the reason why it is unlisted.

It most likely is classified as nsfw because someone reported it for being in the sfw section while looking nsfw and having very mature topics. And it is delisted because it is quarantined. Read the quarantine message if you wanna have a clue for why that might have happened.

And no, Itch moderators will not decide here. All the moderators might do, is try to expedite this case. Which no time already did.

If the game is indexed, fans of that genre that are ok with mature topics will find it easily. But you and the developer seem to think that it should be shown to people that are not ok with mature topics. I disagree.

devilinlovegames232 days ago

If you look at the popular VN list, most contain what would qualify as 'mature content' by these standards, yet they remain available without warnings. This means either: Itch.io doesn't actually share your strict mature content standards, or they're applying double standards. And we don't know where did you get the information that not all NSFW games are not indexed yet. In any case, there's clearly an issue for us here and we're trying to get help, so there's no need to show aggression to anyone (yes, we found it offensive by our standards). If you're not a member of itch staff, could you please ignore our thread? Thanks!

redonihunter232 days ago

contains intense, potentially distressing content, including Graphic Violence (gore, blood, murder ... Disturbing Themes (cannibalism ... Some themes are subtly hinted at in the demo but fully explored in the main game. Player discretion is strongly advised.

I do not think that there is a discussion needed, if your game intends to be suitable for minors or not.

On top of that, your game is currently quarantined. This is not a new issue for games. Read here https://itch.io/t/4120453/game-quarantined-search-or-indexing-problem-read-this Read your own quarantine message for a hint why this might have happened (try downloading it while being logged out).

No Time To PlayModerator233 days ago(+1)

I've let our admins know, but you might not be notified if the decision is upheld.

devilinlovegames233 days ago

Thank you for that. Is there any way for us to check whether a decision has been made, or if our request is simply being ignored?

No Time To PlayModerator233 days ago

Far as I know, there isn't.

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