itch.io

The idea is that we get "side effects" from getting those big fish here. It's a matter of PR, since itch.io needs a mid-sized cultural shift and some change in the perception of the general public. Money talks in a lot of ways and the whole idea of itch.io is letting developers publish stuff AND earn money.

There's nothing wrong about having them here, itch.io is inclusive, not exclusive (like gog.com does, which is and AWFUL practice).

And finally, I was refering to individual profile for each game, not the front page. 

• Offer itch keys for free when you buy the game/app on steam. Should be a no brainer, really. Don't ask or make it opt-in, just send the user the key.
• Keep mentioning the possible 0% fees, DRM-free games, the fact that's open source, and that every service it's free when it comes up on a discussion anywhere (basically guerrilla marketing). Obviously also mention that Valve charges 30% and it's only a subscription, you never own the games.
• Early Access? Say no to Steam, say yes to itch Refinery.

I think exclusivity is a terrible idea because it's not pro-consumer and Steam is pure pro-consumer. Best I can come up with, is that you can and you should release the game first on itch, then on other platforms after X time. But it's still a bad idea.

---

But the reality of it all is that itch will never surpass Steam (or any similar platform) if they don't offer the "synergy", security (for big players) and economy of Steam, because there are almost zero big players here. For Ubisoft to release a game here, they will need a system to implement their stupid DRM because that's what they do - just one example.

Then, there's steam cards and achievements, the former being a HUGE pull for countries with lesser economies. 

This could be overcome or circumvented if itch would to release their own economy system, for example, an itchcoin that could be farmed while playing/idling games on itch. It would be great if you could use such coins to purchase games here.... but then again if there aren't many big releases that will attract the mid-core crowd that itch needs.

And another thing that itch really needs to improve it's the landing page. As of 2018, it looks kind of amateurish, even with all the tools at our reach. The images on the right, allowing comments on the game's page... those are some things that really detract (from a producer/executive point of view) the big fish from being here.

Long time since I used the site but wanted to chime in anyways.

In general I'm a fan of simplified systems and not slang nomenclatures, so I what I would to is to tag all the games as "All Ages" by default, and add an opt-in "Adult" or "Mature" tag/system. If needed, add a "Teenage" tag too. This system should be pretty visible/a major requirement.
Reports should catch devs that forget, decide to not tag, or simply didn't update their games.

I strongly suggest not using any specific numbers (like "18+" or "18 an up") since, as mentioned, both laws and culture are different by country; so I think that a bit of ambiguity would really help. Similar case to "NSFW", some cultures might have no idea what's that, better to stick to some pre-2000 terminology :P

As an added suggestion, we could also have a filter for Mature games (both see it and don't see it). Maybe have an opt-in setting to enable seeing them? Maybe that will help with some countries' laws? Some kind of futureproofing?

For now I have no opinion on the checkboxes for content. I think it will be good to have but I'd consider it an extra, after the other systems have been deployed.

In absolutely NO definition of "game" (being an academic one or not) are games required to be "action packed", my friend. Neither they are required to be "fun", which is just an emotion of the dozens or hundreds we can feel or express..

Can you imagine how bad the movie industry would be if all movies were to be "action packed"?