itch.io is home to over 1 million projects, and we want to make sure people looking for something new and interesting have the best experience possible. As a content creator, it’s your responsibility to accurately represent your project, and represent it in a way that makes a prospective buyer, downloader, or player interested in what you've created.
These quality guidelines are aspects that a creator should consider when publishing their project pages.
If you follow these guidelines, you're likely to have more players, buyers, and people talking about your work. Your project will be eligible to be indexed in our discovery features, (like browse, search, and recommendations), giving it the opportunity to be found by our millions of monthly users.
If you fail to adhere to these guidelines, our systems or a site moderator may choose to remove your page from itch.io’s discovery index. Your page will still be accessible via direct access to anyone with the URL, or through your profile page, but since we believe that your page detracts from the browsing experience, it will not be shown on our listings.
This document is continually updated. As we encounter new types of creators publishing their works, we sometimes need to revisit and revise these rules. If you have any suggestions or questions, please get in touch.
itch.io has a wide range of visibility options. When you decide to make your page public it should be ready for everyone to see. This includes having all images, files, and classifications added as needed. As soon as you publish your page for the first time it’s added to the Most Recent list for people to find it. It can not be put on the top of the Most Recent page again. To get the best results from a newly released project you'll want to publish with something you're proud of.
Keep in mind it is okay to create works in progress, or temporary pages. Just know that as soon as you publicly publish the page ideally it’s ready for others to view it.
In general, you're better off polishing your page before publishing it, otherwise people will be more likely to pass over it when browsing Most Recent.
Note: Feel free to share Draft or Restricted pages, as they aren’t eligible for showing up on our browse & search pages, and will not be placed on top of New Releasees.
The metadata tab located on your project’s editing page enables you to add various categorizations to your project. Consequently, your project will appear on the respective browsing page on itch.io.
Avoid using the metadata page to add categorizations that are irrelevant to your game. If you intentionally add every classification, we may identify your page as spam and restrict access to your project pages.
Do not select a platform (Windows, Linux, MacOS, Android, etc.) unless you have
a program that runs directly on the respective operating system or device. If
your file is something that is not an executable/program, then select another
type from the dropdown. For example, if you're uploading graphical assets,
change the dropdown from Executable to Graphical Assets. Although a .png
can be viewed in Windows, it is not a Windows executable!
If you're uploading a rom, project file, save state, mod, html file, or other non-executable software, don’t select all platforms (even if an emulator or host program supports those platforms). If you aren’t uploading an executable for Windows, Linux, Mac, etc., then do not select that platform. Select a more appropriate type from the drop down if necessary, and use tags to indicate what you're uploading is for. For many alternative platforms, (eg. Commodore 64, NES, GameBoy), there exist tags to classify your project with.
Are you unsure which platforms your project supports? Only select the options that you've actually tested running your project on. For example, if you use Windows, and tested your project on Windows, and aren’t sure of anything else, then only select Windows! Misclassifying a project may result in your page being unlisted. Prefer being accurate.
You're allowed to add free-form tags to your project page to aid in discovery. Please choose tags that are relevant to your project.
zombies, it does not need a zombie tag.Have any idea for a new suggested tag? Click the Feedback link which can be found on the right side of the page on your dashboard and tell us what you'd like to see.
Recreating pages with identical or nearly identical content in an attempt to increase visibility or traffic is against our guidelines. This practice has many negative effects for end users:
If the page undergoes significant changes, or you need to adjust pricing or ownership rules, you can create a new page. However, if it appears you are recreating pages solely to boost visibility, your account may be penalized and no longer be eligible for our discovery features.
Removing access to paid content from your buyers without providng any means to continue accessing it is against our terms of service, and may result in account suspension, cancellation of payouts, and refunding of purchases.
If you have a project page that has strong adult themes, then it must be marked. Someone browsing itch.io will only see adult content if they've enabled it on their account settings. We don’t want any surprises for people who do not want to see that kind of content.
Additionally, avoid using explicit images as your cover image.
You can enable on your project’s edit page: Metadata » Classification.
This one is important! If we see that you consistently do not respect the adult content classification then we may remove all of your pages from being indexed on our search and browse pages.
Additionally, review our policies on payment processors and adult content:
The cover image is typically the first element someone sees when they discover your game on our browse pages. If you don’t have one, they'll likely skip over it. You can even upload a GIF of your project as the cover image to attract attention.
If you're using an animated cover image, please ensure it doesn’t have seizure-inducing effects as per the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
Screenshots are an effective way to visually communicate what your project entails. Many users browsing for new content often rely on screenshots to determine if it’s worth their time. Just like cover images, screenshots can also be GIFs. Feel free to use them if they better represent your project.
Even if your project is an embedded browser game, it’s recommended to provide screenshots. We'll display them on different parts of the site.
However, if it’s not suitable to have images for your project, such as a text-only Twine, there’s no obligation to upload them.
Our classification page enables you to select the language used in your project. If your project doesn’t contain any written or spoken language, you might be tempted to select all available languages. We strongly advise against this. Instead, please utilize the relevant Accessibility classifications, such as No text.
You should only select a language if your project explicitly includes a translation or was originally created in that language. Misusing the language options may result in your page being delisted.
Building an easy-to-browse and accurate database of projects is a priority at itch.io. Adding tags, tools, engines, and classifications that are unrelated to your project in an attempt to increase its visibility is against our rules. If violated, your account will be removed from our browse and search pages, and you will no longer be eligible for our discovery features.
Do not misrepresent the content you are trying to distribute. Including, but not limited to:
Impersonating other creators or companies by uploading content that is confusingly similar to theirs is strictly prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to:
If you are found to be impersonating another creator or company, your content may be removed, and your account could face suspension or termination.
If you intend to re-use the work or ideas of others, always seek permission from the original creator and give proper credit, otherwise do not upload it.
Do not offer services for on your page that offer the opportunity to make money by any sort of “buy-in” from the viewer, including but not limited to:
Many regions throughout the world have very strict rules around cash prize contests and gambling, for this reason we do not allow these pages to be hosted on our platform.
Do not create multiple project pages for projects that are essentially the same but have only minor adjustments. If the code or asset changes are substantial, it’s acceptable. Additionally, if you're trying to preserve different versions of the project, e.g., jam versus final, that’s also acceptable.
If you need to sell different tiers of the same product you can use our individual pricing tools.
While we understand in some cases automatically generated or AI-generated content can be useful or interesting, do not use automated systems to mass produce product pages. We will consider this spam and may remove your pages from our browse and search pages.
This includes but is not limited to:
Please ensure that your content brings something new and valuable to the community. If your project involves automatic or AI generation, make sure it’s clearly stated in your project description and that it adds substantial value to the user experience.
Generative AI refers to artificial intelligence systems that create new content (text, images, music) by learning from large datasets. This includes large language models like ChatGPT and image generation models like DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion that create new outputs based on training data.
We ask that you accurately tag your project if it contains materials produced by generative AI by utilizing the AI Disclosure section on your project’s edit page.
Projects using self-contained algorithms without external large datasets don’t require the use of generative AI tags. For example, traditional game AI like NPC pathfinding, enemy behavior patterns, procedural level generation, fuzzy logic systems, and dynamic difficulty adjustment, dynamic music, etc. are not considered generative AI and don’t need tagging.
We recently added the AI Disclosure feature. You will have time to review and update your pages accordingly, but we are strictly enforcing disclosure for all game asset pages due to legal ambiguity around rights associated with Generative AI content. Failure to tag your asset page may result in delisting.
Please try not to upload just Steam keys, or put a link to your Steam store page without uploading any files. Someone buying a game on itch.io wants to to be able to access it on itch.io through our website and app. If possible, your uploads should be DRM free, but it isn’t a requirement.
If you're concerned about maintaining multiple builds, please try out our command line tools. They're significantly easier to use than anything provided by any other store or platform. You can even find integrations with popular game engines.
Avoid using third-party download services or links to other platforms that the end-user must go through to access your project’s files.
When publishing your games, software, or other digital content on itch.io, we strongly encourage you to upload your files directly to our platform. Direct file uploading helps maintain the highest level of security, reliability, and user experience.
Uploading your files directly to itch.io ensures that they are always accessible. Third-party hosting services may suffer from downtime, bandwidth limitations, or even close down unexpectedly. With direct uploading, you're guaranteed that your users can download your project whenever they want. This is especially relevant if you're selling your content on itch.io, as we are responsible for ensuring buyers can access the content they have bought.
We prefer to see projects that have no advertisements but we realize that this isn’t possible for all developers. If you have advertisements, please don’t make them obtrusive or misleading. Avoid sponsored installers, or ads that prevent someone from playing the game without performing some action.
Please avoid putting third-party login walls in front of your game unless necessary. It’s okay if you need to implement DRM, or save user settings on your server. Avoid doing it for the sake of collecting personal information about a player, or trying to redirect traffic to a third-party service.
Any projects that contain malware, spyware or adware are prohibited and will be banned from our platform. This includes any installers that put advertisements on the user’s operating system or browser.
This one can be quite subjective, but if your project’s premise is around shocking the viewer by showing potentially offensive images, flashing colors, loud or annoying noises, or other material that is designed to be obnoxious then we may delist from our browse and search pages.
Game jam hosts invest considerable effort into their pages to ensure participants have an enjoyable experience, and can collaborate with others on a unified theme. Please do not submit your project to a jam without consideration, merely to increase exposure for your page. We view such actions as spamming. As a consequence, your account will lose jam submission privileges, and we may even disable your account.
Avoid creating a game jam solely for the purpose of submitting or promoting your own project. Game jams are designed as participatory events, and we expect a reasonable level of effort to be put into their organization. Thinly disguised advertisements are not acceptable and will be removed. Furthermore, your account may be stripped of its privileges to host and participate in game jams.
Participants in a game jam should retain all rights and ownership over their work. Do not utilize the jam system to pursue paid work or solicit game developers to produce intellectual property for you or your company. Refrain from hosting a “competition” where the winner forfeits the rights to their work, even if a monetary prize is involved. Such actions are exploitative towards creators. There are numerous other places on the internet where you can hire contractors – itch.io is not the appropriate platform for that.
A sale is a unique event where your game can be procured at a discounted price for a limited duration. If your game is perpetually on sale, then it isn’t genuinely on sale. Please adjust the price of your game accordingly. We aim for people browsing game sales to encounter items that are genuinely discounted.
Misrepresenting the cost of your product is illegal in many countries.
Note: Bundles are an exception to this rule. As the discount on a bundle is due to the combined purchase of multiple items, it’s acceptable to have the bundle discount available indefinitely.
Do not alter the base price of your product, then apply a sale to bring your product back to its original price to make it seem like the product is on sale despite the actual price remaining unchanged. This is considered false advertising, and it violates consumer protection laws in many regions.
Holding sales too frequently diminishes the value of each individual sale. A sale is intended to be a unique event where your product can be purchased at a discount. Avoid using price manipulation and frequent sales to mislead the buyer about the actual price of your product.
The Release announcements board is our designated place for creators to announce and show off their own work. Avoid creating self-advertisements in other boards. Your topic will be locked or moved.
Unless your project is relevant to the other one, do not post advertisements on other communities. It’s considered spamming, and your posts will be removed, and your posting ability may be restricted across your entire account.
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