Independent games storefront itch.io’s website is down due to a “bogus phishing report” sent to its domain registrar, according to a post on X.
“I kid you not, @itchio has been taken down by @OriginalFunko because they use some trash “AI Powered” Brand Protection Software called @BrandShieldltd that created some bogus Phishing report to our registrar, @iwantmyname, who ignored our response and just disabled the domain” reads the post on X, posted late Sunday night.
I kid you not, @itchio has been taken down by @OriginalFunko because they use some trash "AI Powered" Brand Protection Software called @BrandShieldltd that created some bogus Phishing report to our registrar, @iwantmyname, who ignored our response and just disabled the domain
— itch.io (@itchio) December 9, 2024
The person behind itch.io’s X account went on to add “Also, for transparency, we *did* take the disputed page down as soon as we got the notice because it’s not worth fighting stuff like that. Regardless, our registrar’s automated system likely kicked to disable the domain since no one read our confirmation of removal.”
Brandshield claims to “detect digital counterfeits” according to their website, and it is likely a page on itch.io triggered a false-positive report from the AI-powered software.
However, instead of evaluating the report and itch.io’s response, domain registrar iwantmyname immediately disabled itch.io’s domain, causing the website to go down entirely.
In a follow-up post on X, itch.io said: “We’re probably going to wait this one out. We considered putting up a new domain but there are implications with third party services that make it not a trivial swap.”
They went on to add: “If the downtime exceeds 8 hours then we’ll likely prioritize deploying a new domain. Hopefully things are able to get sorted out before then”
At the time of writing the itch.io website is still down.
What is itch.io?
itch.io is a digital marketplace that focuses on indie games but also hosts music, roleplaying games, comics, zines, game dev assets, and more. It was launched in 2013 as an alternative to Steam designed to be more accessible to small developers who could not meet Steam’s requirements.
It began to gain traction as a mainstay in game jams and charity-driven bundle sales, and according to the site’s Wikipedia entry, is currently host to over a million digital products. It is a crucial element of the indie game ecosystem, even being used as a point of discussion in the Epic Games lawsuit against Apple after Epic began hosting itch.io as a counter to Apple’s refusal to host third-party stores on its App Store.
ReadWrite has reached out to Brandshield, Funko, and itch.io for comments on this issue and will update if we receive any.
