I’m sorry but with all due respect, I don’t see how the Chinese gov would have any access at all to your information (Itch.io isn’t going to have it, the only thing they may have is your IP address if you have not used VPN, but they would violate so many privacy laws if they give that to china). So unless you explicitly put in your name, phone number, address into your game or game description, there’s literally no way the Chinese gov is going to even know who you are.
Good point! In the world of digital content, it’s indeed common to attribute work to a certain group or individual. If the development team’s name or the individual’s name is unique and traceable, it could theoretically be a potential source of identification. However, it’s important to bear a few things in mind:
Pseudonymity: Many developers and creators use pseudonyms or aliases for their work. This can provide an additional layer of anonymity and protection. If your team is concerned about potential risks, you might want to consider using a pseudonym for your group or avoid directly naming individuals within the team.
Dilution of threat: There are millions of games and developers out there. This vast quantity tends to “dilute” individual visibility, reducing the likelihood of being specifically singled out, especially for indie developers.
Actions vs identities: Most likely, in a situation where a game is found to be objectionable, the game itself would be blocked or removed in the problematic jurisdiction. The focus would be on restricting the content, rather than pursuing the creators.
Your safety is certainly important, and it’s wise to think carefully about how you present your work and your team to the world. But remember, the Internet provides a level of anonymity that should give you a fair degree of protection. And you can always increase that protection by using pseudonyms and being careful about what specific identifying information you include with your game.
I sincerely apologize if my earlier comments came across as dismissive or rash. I want to clarify that I’m not against your suggestion for a geoblocking feature on itch.io at all. In fact, I see the value it could bring in giving developers more control over where their content is accessible. My intention was not to belittle your concerns but to provide a perspective on the likelihood of the scenario you described, based on general practices in international internet governance. I absolutely recognize the importance of ensuring the safety and peace of mind for content creators like ourselves.
You try to reason that it would be hard to find a dev. It is not. Especially in this case. Devs expose themselves on purpose.
But is it reasonable to fear hundreds of hitmen? For a game that is not marketed there, not in the local language, not preaching religion, and mind you, christianity is not forbidden there, nor is the actual bible. They have 2% christians.
The reasonable fear would be, that they might ban the game there. Or that the dev gets put on an unwanted list, having problems when trying to visit the country. Or even fear of hackers and trollposters, downvoters etc.
Geoblocking would solve none of those issues. I hope everyone realizes that.
Optional regional pricing might be implemented some day. Maybe optional geoblocking will be included for that. But I guess that is very low on the priority list of features. Regional pricing is not needed for all those pay what you want games.