Itch.io

Itch.io (stylized in all lowercase) is a website for users to host, sell and download indie video games, indie role-playing games, game assets, comics, zines and music. Launched in March 2013 by Leaf Corcoran, the service hosts over 700,000 products . Due to the amount of freedom developers have on Itch.io, it is regarded as a good way for new video game developers and tabletop role-playing game developers to practice creating games, publicizing them, and start making money from them. Itch.io allows users to host game jams, events where participants have limited time to create a game. Itch.io also allows multiple users to sell their products together in "bundles," which encourages collaboration and mutual support among developers. On March 3, 2013, Leaf Corcoran posted a blog entry to the site leafo.net detailing what the future website would be about, with a pay-what-you-want model. In an interview with Rock Paper Shotgun, Corcoran said the original idea was not a store but instead a place to "create a customized game homepage". An early inspiration was Bandcamp, a self-publishing site for musicians, and the name itch.io originates from a spare domain that Corcoran had purchased a couple of years prior. In May 2015, Itch.io paid developers a total of US$51,489. As of June 2015, the service hosted over 15,000 games and programs. In December 2015, the service announced the release of an open-source desktop application for installing games and other content, as well as keeping existing games and content updated automatically. It was released with simultaneous support for Microsoft Windows, macOS and Linux. By February 2017, Itch.io had five million downloads. In April 2021, Itch.io was made available as an app on the Epic Games Store. Game developers can sell bundles of games together. Bundles are usually organized around a shared topic, genre or community. In addition to bundles for shared profit among game developers, Itch.io also hosts charity bundles to raise money for various causes. Itch.