itch.io

So about two months ago I announced that I’d be leaving Itch.io an moving to another platform, in response to Itch.io’s policy regarding 18+ content. In particular, I expressed dissatisfaction that Itch had failed to provide any kind of update or time estimation after announcing that they would be seeking a payment processor who would show more respect for the creators of erotic content, and who would not push back against Itch platforming such content. Yet now, after expressing my dissatisfaction with the platform, I find myself returning to Itch.io. I wish I could say that this decision was in response to Itch finally making good on their promises, or a shift in policy in how they are handling NSFW content, or me gaining information that caused me to re-evluate Itch.io’s actions, or a mere change of heart. While I have been made aware that Stripe are being highly hypocritical in this situation by cheerfully collecting payments from OnlyFans for their erotic content while policing the erotic content platformed on Itch.io, it would be dishonest to say that sympathy for Itch.io was the key factor in me rescinding my decision to leave the platform. The truth is, I am returning to Itch.io because despite my best efforts, I have not been able to find a platform better suited to the type of creator I seek to be.

I became a game developer because I wanted to make games and share them with people who could enjoy them. That is the bottom line here, and if making sure people are still able to play my games means that I must, to some extent, put up with the obstacles Itch.io is imposing upon its creators, then that is what I will do. I am not proud of needing to resort to this measure. I will be beginning production of free demo versions of all of my games and adding them to the site soon in order to comply with Itch.io’s indexing demands. To be clear, the full version of all of my games are Pay What You Want at this time, and I have no plans to change that. Beyond the creation of free demos, the only change I intend to make as a creator is that I will no longer be sharing revenue with Itch. When I began working with Itch, it felt like a platform worth supporting, a genuine benefit to independent game developers like me and countless creators. Today, Itch feels like nothing more than the least of several evils.

I'm curious.  What's your option C?

It's a miserable state of affairs.  NSFW game devs like myself pour our time into development and spend money on assets and Itch.io continues to work as hard as possible to ensure we can't earn back what we spend.  

It would be more honest, yes, but if they did that, they'd lose more creators like me.  It's cowardly, really.  They lack the principles to tell PayPal 'no' and move on to another processor, but they won't openly admit, "We're bending to the censorship push and throwing all our NSFW creators under the bus."

I find it increasingly difficult to believe that Itch.io is seeking a new payment processor.  I think they made that claim simply to shut us up.  And I don't see any point trying to juggle my work across Itch.io and Subscribestar when Itch.io is so hostile to my work.

If Itch.io eventually does comes through and fix their platform, I'll consider putting more of my games on the site.  Until then, Itch is not worth my time and effort.

I said I'm leaving Itch.io.  I explained why.  I thought that was pretty clear.

In Game Transactions are one of the worst things in modern gaming and I have too much respect for myself and for my players to resort to those measures. 

If you're not making NSFW games, I'm not surprised if you're out of the loop with this.

Itch.io has 'deindexed' all NSFW games that accept payments, including games that are Pay What You Want.  This means that for NSFW game creators, the options are:

1. Make the game entirely free and do not accept payments for it at all.  I get all art assets for my games on commission, and without being able to collect payments, that means I cannot use the games to make back what I spent on the comms.  Making games wouldn't simply fail to make me money, I would be making them at a loss.

2. Get the game deindexed.  This means that the game will not appear in searches, severely limiting how many people are likely to find the game.  The whole point of using a platform like Itch.io is to get my game to more people, and they are actively fighting against my ability to do that.

Google Itch.io Collective Shout to learn more about this whole awful situation.  It's not even just NSFW creators getting screwed over.

I've got plenty to say about my decision to move my game development platform, but before I get into the less fun part of the post, I want to drop a link to my new SubscribeStar.  I just completed Dramireth's Dungeon, an 18+ illustrated text game, currently available to Subscribers.  If you have enjoyed my prior games or enjoy NSFW Text Games in general and are over the age of 18, I hope you will consider subscribing.  My SubscribeStar will also include updates and teasers on upcoming games, as well as retrospectives and my observations and philosophies on games and game design.

I have attempted to stay optimistic about Itch.io's care for its creators.  For roughly four years, Itch.io has provided a platform for creators like me, and helped me to fulfill my lifelong dreams of being a game developer.  Sadly, I am no longer able to ignore the fact that Itch.io has failed the creators it depends on.  They have failed to uphold our artistic liberty, and they have failed to protect our financial stability.

Itch.io claimed that they would seek a new payment processor after PayPal folded to pressure from Collective Shout's calls for censorship.  Had Itch followed through on this promise, I would be satisfied that the platform is doing its best under the circumstances.  Yet, that claim was made public four months ago, and Itch.io has not offered a whisper on the topic sense.  I cannot delay my creative work on the empty hopes that Itch might eventually stop actively working to make my games as hard to find as possible.  Creating games and sharing them with people is too important to me.  Continuing to host my games on Itch.io either demands that I drop any ability for my games to receive financial support, or else have those game deindexed, hiding them from the majority of players who might be interested in playing them.

I want to express my warmest thank you to everyone who has given my work their time and attention.  Thank you to my followers, and thank you to anyone who has ever given me a donation.  I hope you will continue to support me in this transition to a platform more friendly to the games I want to create.  Here's to my new release, and to many more games shared in the future.

Porn is not evil, sexuality is not evil, and the fact your religion has twisted you into believe otherwise is evidence of how evil IT is.

I understand you've been conditioned to loathe your own nature by guilty-tripping and the empty threat of damnation.  I would ask you avoid making that anyone else's problem.

Mouthwashing already got nuked despite being entirely non-erotica.  It's already happening.

Itch doesn't deserve a thank you.

I'm glad you get non-monetary satisfaction out of your games.  I do too.  The problem is that if you want your work indexed, players can't even have the option to support you.

I want players to be able to play my stuff for free, but I also want them to be able to pay me if they believe my games deserve financial support.

Itch still hasn't brought that back.

I don't get why people don't understand the self-awareness and responsible framing of erotic fantasy.

The VAST majority of people with 'rape kinks' understand the divide between what they find hot and how consent should be handled IRL.  Same with dubcon and the majority of other kinks that people find icky.  If a creator is using content warnings on their work, that is enough to demonstrate that they understand that their work may contain things that should not be replicated IRL.  Any player with half a brain should be able to understand the same.

And you don't get to spend half your post ranting about the necessity of reproduction and whining about 'not being able to tell the gender' of the people in your porn and then claim this issue has nothing to with LGBTQ+.  Collective Shout is a Conservative organization with open contempt for queer people and the way you talk about this issue makes it crystal clear why you're interested in apologizing for their tyrannical censorship.

Yeah it's harder every day to hold any faith in this site.  If PayPal can't respect artistic freedom, they need to boot PayPal and make a deal with someone who can.  Itch.io is cheerfully pocketing their cut of NSFW creator's sales while doing as little as possible to support us.

The whole situation where Itch.io is deindexing NSFW games has been a drag, but I'm hanging in there.

You should still have my Discord.  Feel free to hit me up there whenever you like!

Oh heya Cherry!  Been too long.  Hope you've been well.  :D

I've got my eye on DL Site.

Though supposedly Itch is still planning to make this place not hellish for NSFW creators.  

Would love to see that come true.

For the moment?  Probably not.  If Itch doesn't resolve the payment processor issue soon I wouldn't blame you for boycotting it entirely.

I'd like to disagree, but they were dead silent when I asked this previously in response to their update.  It does not bode well.

We're approaching one month since Itch.io announced it would be seeking a payment processor that is willing to facilitate the sale of NSFW content.  Since then, I have seen no updates.  We cannot allow this problem to be forgotten or overlooked.  Until Itch secures a payment processor who does not enforce censorship, it is failing to serve the creators it depends on to function.

Itch must pursue this problem immediately and with its full attention if it can ever hope to emerge from this situation with its reputation and the trust of its userbase intact.

Hold Itch accountable.  Keep this issue on the forefront of the forums.  Let them know that capitulating to PayPal's censorship rather than replacing them is a failure and a violation of our trust.

Sometimes negativity is deserved.  Musk is not going to save payment processing anymore than he saved automobiles.  And given his behavior towards his daughter and tyrannical approaching to managing Twitter, I wouldn't be surprised if a hypothetical payment processor made by Musk banned all LGBTQ+ content.

PayPal's actions have utterly sickened me.
My hope is that Itch.io gets a new Payment Processor ASAP and fixes this mess.

Do you have any estimates on when Itch will secure a new payment processor and begin reindexing nsfw games that allow payments?  I understand if such an estimate is difficult to form at this time, but given that we NSFW creators are still struggling to net any payments on Itch.io at this time, it would be comforting to have some idea of approximately when our reach will be restored.

Supposedly, payment on NSFW content will be restored once Itch has a new Payment Processor.

Though if that's not in place in a month or so I'm gonna have to give 'em the side-eye.

Well put.  As Itch.io users, I think our best move is to keep and eye on Itch.io and stay vocal about the payment processor situation.  We cannot forget what we're still waiting for Itch to provide.

The update indicated that creators also need to use the new content warning system to get the shadowban lifted.  Could be that 's the reason we're not seeing more NSFW games restored yet.

So if you missed it, Itch.io has officially stated that they will be seeking a new payment processor that allows NSFW content.  Further, Itch.io has already begun lifting the shadowban from nsfw games that do not accept payments.

Itch.io's Update

It seems more and more credible that Itch.io will be undoing the damage of their NSFW content ban, and NSFW creators will be able to use Itch as we always have.  For my part, I'm approaching this with cautious optimism.  Itch.io has not fixed the problem yet, but from where I stand, it appears that the site is making meaningful and timely strides towards a solution that prioritizes the needs of their userbase.  We may not need to abandon Itch after all.

Of course this is presupposing that Itch does secure an alternative payment processor.  Until that happens, the site has not earned our forgiveness.

Kind of.

Only games that disallow payment are currently being indexed again.  Any games that accept or require payment are still delisted.

Which sucks for people like me because I have to choose between giving up the ability to get paid for my work and staying in shadowban purgatory and out of the eyes of my audience.

People are already complaining towards the Payment Processors and Visa and Mastercard both have their stocks in the toilet.

However, with Itch moving on to a better Payment Processor, it doesn't particularly matter to us creators or audiences how stupid the old payment processors are being.

The backlash at Itch has forced them to take responsibility.  This energy was spent exactly where it should have been, and we are already beginning to see the fruits of that effort.

Don't let up.  Take Itch to task and demand that they find a Payment Processor who can meet the needs of all its creators.

So at last glance, Itch.io has seemingly woken up to the needs and rights of their audience, and is seeking a payment processor who actually respects artistic freedom.  This is an excellent outcome, at the face of it.

My question is, how long until that new Payment Processor is part of Itch and we don't have to worry about PayPal bullying the site into censoring us anymore?  It's obviously a good thing that we're on the road to recovery, but every day that passes with our work buried by the shadowban, we are missing out on views, downloads and payments.

If someone from Itch, or someone with real insights on how these types of business arrangements work, has an estimate to offer, it would be appreciated.  I understand that this type of shift in the site's function can't happen overnight, but the longer this drags out, the worse the publicity is going to be for Itch.  Creators and players are already swearing off the site and seeking alternatives, costing Itch both money and reputation.  This wound must be healed before it scars.

I think that's a touch optimistic.  If people weren't rioting on the forums I have no doubt Itch would have happily left us all out to dry.

Itch isn't doing this because it's the right thing, they're doing it because they're scared.   As they should be.

This is just about the best outcomes we possibly could have asked for, if, in fact they see it through.

Itch.io is on the right track.  Just hope they lock down the new payment processor as quickly as possible so they can get creators back in business.  The way they've handled this so far hasn't been ideal, but if they move forward with getting in a payment processor who values creative freedom, I'll be willing to forgive this whole thing and keep my work on Itch like I always have.

The site is in no way focused on children.  The most prominent games here, consistently, are horror games.

The problem is that the 'cults' aren't ever going to change their minds.

Businesses though?  Businesses will do whatever profits them.

Take the fight to Paypal, Visa and Mastercard. That's where you're gonna get results.

Pushing back against the Visa and Mastercard stuff may yet see results.  They're already taking stock hits.  For my part, I'm making complaints on the phone daily and I'm not the only one.  The more people raise a stink about this in the proper avenues, the more payment processors are going to have to contend with the fact that censorship is not going to benefit their profits.

Itch.io is already seeking new payment processors.

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/itchio-are-seeking-out-new-payment-processors-w...

So apparently they agree with me.  :)

You're factually wrong.  There are payment processors who are down with nsfw content.  If that weren't true, nobody would be able to make cash on porn, which is very much not the case.  I'm already eyeballing DL Site as an alternative to this dumpster fire.

Finally some good news.

The more attention this gets, the better.  Hopefully people outside of game development circles are going to join the pushback.  Let's all keep banging on the doors of Visa, Mastercard and Paypal until they make this right.

Call PayPal and voice your complaints.  Daily.  Others are doing the same.  This whole thing started because of people complaining about PayPal cooperating with Itch and Steam platforming works they didn't like.  If we call PayPal en mass and clog their phones lines on the daily, we may be able to force the decision to reverse.  All we have to do is show PayPal that they're going to be losing more money from folding to censorship than they would be if they actually respected artistic freedom.