Article · AI translation
IT Home reported on November 3 that, according to a report today by foreign media outlet Kotaku, independent game distribution platform Itch.io has faced a surge in AI games in recent months. The number of games on the platform has doubled in recent months.
Data released by Itch.io shows that from August 3 to October 30, the number of games added to the platform each day doubled, rising from just over 3,000 per day to more than 6,000. The problem, however, is that game downloads and purchases have not seen similar growth.
IT Home noted that Itch.io's content hosting service has been abused. The platform has begun implementing a new policy requiring uploads such as desktop games, books, comics and original soundtracks to comply with the AI use disclosure rules that apply to other types of content.
In addition, Itch.io has removed several TB of low-quality AI games and plans to add filtering features for regular users so they can filter out games that use AI.
Further reading
Publicly available information shows that Itch.io was created by Leaf Corcoran on March 3, 2013. It was inspired by the music platform Bandcamp when it was founded, while its name came from a spare domain name the founder had purchased.
The platform focuses on independent and niche content. In addition to games, it hosts soundtracks, interactive fiction, game assets and game mods. Its publishing requirements are far lower than Steam's, so it is regarded as a gathering place for independent developers testing the waters and for small projects; many works are personal practice projects distributed for free.
In terms of scale, Itch.io currently lists about 1.769 million game pages, of which about 132,000 carry an AI-generated tag, accounting for about 7.5%.
Itch.io has also introduced a filter called “NoAI.” Players who select it on the search page can hide all games tagged as using generative AI. However, the platform does not offer an option to indicate the specific extent of AI involvement, so players still face some difficulty in making that distinction.
Itch.io's AI disclosure requirements are similar to Steam's. Since 2024, Steam has required developers to disclose the use of generative AI in the production process. AI tools used to assist with coding, however, do not need to be reported to Valve; disclosure is required only when content such as artwork, soundtracks, game mechanics, text or promotional materials is produced by generative AI.
For comparison, among the more than 8,600 demos featured during Steam Next Fest, nearly 1,700 carried an AI tag, putting the share using generative AI at close to 20%. The issue has also become a focus of industry debate. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has publicly criticized Steam's mandatory AI disclosure policy, arguing that the label effectively forces developers to make a “political statement” and can easily be used by extremist groups online to attack them, while Valve has maintained its original position.