Developers are experiencing significant delays in receiving payments on itch.io

Developers have been reporting significant delays in receiving payments from itch.io, with some stating they have been waiting for more than 100 days. The situation was initially highlighted by Rascal and subsequently covered by GameDeveloper. Discussions on social media have intensified, with a specific Reddit thread gaining widespread attention. Developers claim their support inquiries to the platform have gone unanswered.

Indie developer u/seanutsfrox shared on Reddit about their experience, stating, "I've contacted itch.io support numerous times, yet received no response." They further elaborated that to comply with the platform's tax requirements, they had to submit official documents acquired from their local tax office, a request they had not encountered with other services. Despite eventually having their tax profile validated, they still have not received their funds.

"The delay has seriously impacted my project," they noted. "We needed these funds for continued development but now face financial uncertainty. A contractor we engaged based on itch.io's 10–14 day payout claim had to be let go due to non-payment, disrupting our project timeline significantly."

The developer, who alleges that they are owed over $6,000, mentioned that more than 200 developers, especially those outside the U.S., are facing similar issues. The problem predominantly affects those who collect revenue directly rather than via third-party services like Stripe or PayPal. They urged others contemplating selling products on itch.io to seek alternatives, expressing that the platform now seems unreliable.

In response, leafo, the creator of itch.io, posted a message in their community forum to address "payout or tax-related issues." The post indicated that the payout process has been improved, allowing developers to submit queries more efficiently. Developers are encouraged not to request support through forum posts, as the previous thread was meant as a stopgap while new procedures were implemented. GamesIndustry.biz has reached out to itch.io for comments and will provide updates if a reply is received.

Furthermore, last month, itch.io acknowledged that discussions with payment processors are ongoing regarding the platform's adult content policies. This scrutiny led to a temporary removal of NSFW content from search features and revisions to the guidelines on adult content to align with the requirements of payment processors, as reported by GamesIndustry.biz.