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Support Ticket (#279192) - Unauthorized downloads from abusive buyer account

A topic by Hasalynx Games created May 28, 2025 Views: 534 Replies: 11

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Hasalynx Games184 days ago (1 edit) (+1)

Hello everyone,

I am facing a serious issue with unauthorized downloads on itch.io and have received absolutely no response from their support team.

Recently, a buyer abused their account to purchase my game and probably shared access, resulting in 89 unauthorized downloads (and a significant financial loss). I reached out to Stripe, but they cannot take action unless itch.io escalates the case internally.

I submitted a support request (#279192), but despite reaching out via email, Discord, and Twitter, itch.io has remained completely silent—no response, no acknowledgment, nothing. Given the scale of the abuse, I am shocked that this hasn’t been investigated.

How is it acceptable for a platform popular like this to ignore a fraud case this large? Have other developers faced something similar, and what steps can I take to ensure itch.io addresses this?

Any insights or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

-Maxine

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No Time To PlayModerator184 days ago(+1)

I've let our admins know.

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Hasalynx Games183 days ago (1 edit)

Hi,

Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. I hope that the issue can get explained and sorted out soon!

-Maxine

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Hasalynx Games173 days ago

Hi No Time To Play,

You mentioned that Admins would be contacted, yet I still haven’t received a response. I’ve sent four emails, tweeted, and reached out twice on Discord—still nothing.

Is this really how Itch.io handles fraud? 89 illegal downloads from one account, and no action. The longer this is ignored, the more likely the pirates will get away without consequences. Stripe won’t act against the fraudulent buyer unless Itch.io escalates the case.

I am extremely disappointed with this platform. This has been the worst experience I’ve had in the gaming industry.

— Maxine

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No Time To PlayModerator173 days ago

I'm sorry to hear that, but it's out of my hands now.

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hechelion184 days ago(+1)

Are you aware that Itch's terms of service don't limit the number of downloads?
Itch is also a DRM-free system.

What I'm saying is, if you want to limit access and the number of downloads of your product, Itch.io really isn't the right platform. Not only does it lack any such tools, but its TOS goes in the exact opposite direction.

Note, I'm not criticizing you. If you want to add DRM and limitations to your product, that's your decision, and I respect it. What I'm saying is that Itch isn't the best place for that sales approach.

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Hasalynx Games183 days ago (1 edit) (+1)

Hi,

Thank you for your reply! Yes, I’m aware, and you’re absolutely right—Itch.io probably isn’t the best platform for us to publish on.

That said, when multiple downloads come from a single account, Itch.io loses money as well. From what I’ve checked, their Terms of Service bind purchases to individual accounts, meaning a single purchase is intended for personal use, not for multiple users. While the platform doesn’t enforce DRM, sharing download links or login credentials appears to be discouraged.

At this point, I don’t think we’ll be publishing here again. I spent four months working on this game, and after the abuse, I’ve completely lost my motivation. :c

-Maxine

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redonihunter183 days ago

All downloads were authorized. The number is just so high, that you assume foul play. You do not even know, if the same account downloaded the file, unless you only have one customer. But that is besides the point, because:

The download numbers on Itch do not tell the number of completed downloads. They tell the number of started downloads. There is a topic about this every other week.

And why would someone share their account to download the thing from the platform several times? They would be cought immediatly. It would be far easier to download it once and then share the file elsewhere.

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Hasalynx Games183 days ago (1 edit)

Hi,

Thanks for writing! Actually, we have checked the analytics, and all 89 downloads came from a single account. The real question now is whether they initiated the downloads from the same IP address or multiple ones—I hope Itch.io can investigate.

Typically, players download our game 3–5 times, and while up to 10 would be understandable, 89 is excessive and strongly suggests potential abuse. The buyer never reached out about any issues, despite the fact that we have a “Report a Bug” option on our profile.

We also know their location, and it’s not a region with known internet stability issues, so excessive re-downloads due to connectivity problems don’t seem likely. Unfortunately, account sharing is a widespread issue online and often a gateway for piracy, which is why this situation is so concerning.

-Maxine

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redonihunter183 days ago (1 edit)

You see a number for started downloads. It is not telling you the completed downloads. There are all sorts of connection problems that users suffer worldwide. Itch knows that. Therefore they provide that alternative download link for paying customers. It is called Download not starting?

Even if the downloads were completed, maybe someone used this file as testing for their download speed or a download manager.

The explanation that someone shared their account to pirate your file is the least plausible of all the explanations, in my opinion. And why do people download your game 5 times to begin with? I download a file only one time. Unless there is an update. Or there are multiple files and we are looking at the project counter and not the file counter.

I have doubts, that Itch will investigate. They have systems in place to catch hacked accounts. An account that is accessed by multiple IP in the same day would have been cought in that system and been investiaged because of that alone.

Maybe the buyer was travelling and tried to access the game over a shaky vpn with bad connection. Since it stopped after 89, the buyer gave up or finally managed to download the file uncorrputed or in full. Would be my best guess.

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Hasalynx Games183 days ago

Actually, using a purchased file to test download speed isn’t a common practice—there are built-in tools for that.

I understand that occasional redownloads happen due to internet issues, and if we were talking about 3–5 times, I wouldn’t even question it. But 89 downloads from a single IP? That’s not normal buyer behavior.

I appreciate that you want to defend buyer rights, and believe me, if this were one genuine customer struggling to download, I wouldn’t raise the issue at all. However, as creators, we have to protect our work from abuse because repeated unauthorized sharing means lost sales. If you’re not a creator, you might not fully see why this is a concern, but for us, it’s a serious issue worth investigating.

And to clarify, the downloads stopped because I unpublished the game—not because the buyer suddenly solved their issue.

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redonihunter182 days ago (1 edit) (+1)

I appreciate that you want to defend buyer rights

That is not what I did. I am telling you that you that someone stealing your game is an unlikely explanation.

People pirating games from Itch do not do so by sharing account data or download links to Itch. You need to assume software pirates stupid enough to do so and more, a lot of people dumb enough to download directly from Itch via a pirated link or log in with shared account data.

if this were one genuine customer struggling to download

And you know that it is not so, because.... ? While 89 times is high, but I would manage to do that manually, if I am frustrated that it does not work. Would take about 3 minutes, spread out over an evening. Could even be the Itch App itself, trying to download the file over a faulty line.

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