The itch.io website was recently shut down, blaming Funko for flagging a disputed page under an alleged phishing report.
Trouble is brewing as online video game hub itch.io was temporarily taken down earlier today. The site has now been restored, but itch.io is calling out Funko for the issue. Their official X and BlueSky accounts claimed that the collectible Funko Pop figurines company used AI software, which ultimately shut down the gaming site while flagging a disputed page. Additionally, the AI software filed a “bogus” report with itch.io’s domain registrar.
Itch.io asserts that the registrar took the drastic step of shutting down the entire site, rather than verifying whether itch.io had already removed the contested page. “I kid you not, itch.io has been taken down by Funko because they use some trash “AI Powered” Brand Protection Software called BrandShield that created some bogus Phishing report to our registrar iwantmyname, who ignored our response and just disabled the domain,” they wrote on X.
At the height of the dispute, the gaming company explained that the site’s servers were “still there,” but the site and its games were completely inoperable. “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 in to disable the domain since no one read our confirmation of removal.” The company also expressed frustration, noting that many creators and gamers were blocked from using the site on Sunday, Dec. 8.
itch.io is known to host more than 1 million indie-created products, including indie games, RPGs, comics and music. All of which is being sold and distributed via the website. While the downtime meant developers would no longer be able to sell or distribute their products, the DRM-free nature of the downloads means anyone who has already bought and installed indie games from their site will be able to continue using them without issue. Thankfully, the site has been restored fairly quickly, but the issue was still troublesome.
It remains unclear what Funko or BrandShield found on Itch.io that triggered the phishing report. Funko has yet to respond to the claims or explain what occurred on their end. Interestingly, Itch.io recently took a stance on AI, introducing a requirement last month that developers declare whether their game was made using any form of generative AI. This includes graphics, sounds, text, code and other elements.
