Itch.io has recorded a sharp increase in the number of game pages created on its open marketplace, with daily submissions doubling over the past two months. The rise has not been matched by a proportional increase in downloads, purchases or revenue, according to a representative of the store.
A post on Bluesky said that daily game page creation had increased from around 3,000 in August to almost 8,000 in October. The post did not explicitly attribute the change to generative artificial intelligence, although replies asked whether AI was responsible and the Itch.io account responded with robot and tired-face emojis.
The store later clarified that downloads and purchases had not doubled alongside the number of new pages. This suggests that the larger volume of listings has not delivered a comparable benefit to either Itch.io or its developers.
Recent listings on Itch.io include numerous thumbnails made with generative AI. The store’s “No AI” filter reduces the visible results from 1,772,099 to 432,180. Itch.io asks creators to disclose whether their projects contain generative AI assets, although answering that question is not required to create a game page.
The platform’s content creator guidelines ask developers to accurately identify projects containing generative AI materials through the disclosure section on the editing page. The broader guidelines state that pages may be removed for failing to comply, but the available information does not clarify how Itch.io handles undisclosed AI-generated content specifically.
Itch.io is not the only game storefront facing an increase in rapidly produced AI titles. Valve has also asked Steam developers to make their games harder to copy and to differentiate them by making greater use of the platform’s community features.
Sources: Game Developer.