Itch.io says daily game pages doubled amid AI submission surge

itch.io said on Oct. 31 via Bluesky that daily new game pages doubled since Aug. 2026, from around 3,000 to over 6,000 as of Oct. 30. The company posted the figure on its official Bluesky account on 1 November and then added the downloads-and-purchases qualification in a reply, according to POPTOPIC. The Bluesky chart was labelled “game events” and tracked pages created per day between August 3 and October 30, Yahoo reports.

itch.io confirmed in a reply that downloads and purchases have not doubled since Aug. 2026 despite the page growth. The storefront operator said, “The number of downloads and purchases has not doubled.” TwistedVoxel reports that when asked about plays and downloads compared to games published in the last year or decade, itch.io revealed that purchases and downloads have not doubled, with the comparison spanning releases from the last year or decade, not just the two-month window.

itch.io indicated in replies that AI-generated projects make up the majority of new pages, and replied “take a guess” with crying and robot emojis when asked why. Bluesky user Tommy’s Homemade Games asked itch.io about the issue, prompting the reply, according to Yahoo. Bluesky account BardZaku asked itch.io “is it AI dreck?” and received an emoji of a face with bags under its eyes. Polygon attributes the majority claim to other itch.io replies, while POPTOPIC cautions that the thread supplies no measured AI share and does not prove each new page was automatically generated.

Yahoo ties the itch.io page uptick to Anthropic’s Claude Opus 5 launch on July 24; the model, now version 5.5, excels at reverse-engineering code. The rapid uptick in itch.io pages coincides with the launch of Claude Opus 5 on July 24, which has enabled much faster decompilations of old games, according to Yahoo.

According to Polygon and Skoar, Steam is equally crowded, with Next Fest demos rising from around 4,000 to over 8,000. Yahoo notes that the demos’ rise roughly matches itch.io’s page growth over the same window.

itch.io’s Generative AI disclosure field, deployed Nov. 20, 2024, asks about Graphics, Sound, Text & Dialog, and Code, and a “yes” answer adds the AI Generated tag automatically. The disclosure is required for all asset creators, and untagged AI assets lose eligibility for indexing on browse pages after a grace period. itch.io says it may rename or modify the automatic AI tags, so creators should correctly fill out the disclosure form instead of manually tagging pages. Asset creators see a blocking dialog on their dashboard instructing them to classify their pages, and itch.io has included a bulk tagging tool to simplify tagging for creators with a large quantity of pages. After a grace period, itch.io will likely use user reports to handle pages that have not been addressed.

Untagged assets made with generative AI, even after edits, cannot be indexed on browse pages. itch.io’s quality guidelines treat automated mass production of pages as spam that may bring removal from browse and search; excluded pages stay reachable by URL or profile. They ask creators to disclose generative-AI materials accurately and separate those tools from familiar systems such as pathfinding and procedural level generation, treating AI disclosure and permission to flood listings as separate questions. The guidelines warn against minimally curated generated projects and repeated variations of substantially the same material.

Tools that creators already use for ideas, code, prototypes, assets and editor actions now incorporate generative AI, according to TwistedVoxel. The GDC 2026 State of the Game Industry survey found 36% of 2,300 professionals use generative AI as part of their jobs. Round8 Studio, developer of Lies of P, is adding generative AI to its future pipeline, and parent Neowiz advertised an “AI Creator” role in May. Capcom will use generative AI to boost development efficiency and productivity under its long-term growth strategy, the publisher said in its FY26/3 earnings presentation, calling it “a tool to streamline routine tasks freeing up time for creative work.”

Ubisoft’s FY2025-26 earnings report pledges faster AI integration across development as a major long-term strategy, pointing to smarter NPCs and game worlds that react to player behavior.

Replies to itch.io’s initial post contain calls to ban AI generated games from the store, according to Yahoo. AI researcher Mike Cook said on Bluesky that banning AI games would not change the graph and would require enforcement staff or a dicey reporting system. Cook said, “I think that would be a good move. But it won’t change this graph, unfortunately.”

Valve has cast doubt on banning AI coding tools on Steam, a view shaped by its laissez-faire storefront approach. Developers have canceled public demos over cloning fears, and Anthropic has since updated Claude to limit direct copying; Yahoo says whether the wider flow of AI games has stemmed is unclear.

Yahoo says the flat download and purchase numbers suggest AI games are clogging itch.io for nobody’s benefit, including the people making them. Yahoo says a viral element drives the surge, with people posting what Yahoo calls vibe-coded works—projects built with AI coding tools—online for attention and social media clout. The people behind AI-generated games may eventually lose interest and move on, but Yahoo says there is a risk the audience also loses interest in storefronts before that happens. Skoar says fans anticipating the Drunken Goddess Reflux demo may face disappointment.

According to Skoar, the gaming industry will keep facing this problem unless itch.io and Steam actively track and restrict the flow of generative AI content on their platforms.

POPTOPIC cautions that the figures are itch.io’s own account of activity on its service; the Bluesky thread is not independently audited and does not publish raw purchase and download totals. Purchases failing to double does not mean purchases fell, and the posts give no precise data on revenue, prices, average spending, or per-developer sales. Page creation is different from finished games reaching players, and the posts do not break down how many new pages were public, indexed, paid or attached to completed projects.

According to POPTOPIC, a page can serve as an experiment, a free release or a paid product, so more pages need not create a matching increase in transactions. The open marketplace lets creators set prices, run sales and shape pages without winning a popularity contest, and supports free projects and pay-what-you-want pricing above a creator’s minimum. A page excluded from the discovery index can remain available through its URL or profile, and uploading does not guarantee appearance in search, browse or recommendations.

itch.io’s storefront is full of student-made and game jam projects, and many higher-profile indies are available through itch.io and often given away in charity bundles, according to Polygon. Polygon says standing out is harder than ever for indie developers with hand-crafted games as developers using generative AI flood storefronts with new games.

Yahoo reports that at time of writing, 131,929 of 1,769,316 itch.io listings—about 7.5%—carried the AI Generated tag. Yahoo notes itch.io allows AI games and asks whether adding them is fair if people download and enjoy them.