Creators indicate experiencing significant payment delays on itch.io

Many developers have reported significant delays in receiving their payouts from the indie game platform itch.io, with waits extending beyond 100 days for some.

According to reports by Rascal and further substantiated by GameDeveloper, there has been a surge of complaints on social platforms about these delays. One particular thread on Reddit has gained substantial attention, with hundreds of upvotes, as developers struggle with unanswered support tickets from itch.io.

An indie developer, u/seanutsfrox, shared their experience, stating: "I've contacted itch.io support numerous times over several months but received no replies," via Reddit. They explained that they complied with tax requirements by visiting their local tax office and submitting documentation, which was unique to itch.io. Despite getting their tax profile validated after months, the payouts have not been issued.

As a result, the developer's project has encountered serious setbacks. "Funds were essential for our development, yet we are left stranded without any explanation. We engaged a freelancer with the expectation of payment within 10–14 days, as promised by itch.io. When the funds did not arrive, we had no choice but to cancel the contract, which was damaging to our credibility," they lamented.

Seanutsfrox, awaiting over $6000, mentioned that they are among "over 200 developers" facing similar issues, primarily affecting those outside the U.S. Developers collecting revenue, as opposed to those utilizing Stripe or PayPal, appear most impacted. "Waiting four months without any payment or support response, while watching our projects collapse, is unacceptable. If you're thinking of launching your game or project on itch.io, consider other options," they urged, criticizing the platform's practices.

In response, itch.io creator leafo posted a new update in the community, aiming to address payout and tax-related issues, mentioning that the platform has enhanced its payout procedures and removed the need for email-based queries.

"We kindly ask that you no longer make forum posts about payout assistance. We had a temporary forum until some of our processes were refined," leafo stated. GamesIndustry.biz is awaiting further comments from itch.io.

Additionally, itch.io revealed last month that it is in discussions with its payment processors amid scrutiny over adult content on the site. This pressure led them to remove NSFW content from browsing and search functions, while updating their adult content guidelines in line with processor terms.