My only question is how much money is earned from every download of free games on itch.io, which I have been wondering for a long time.
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Itch.io isn't a site that pays developers for downloads. Nor do people have to pay itch.io.
Itch.io shares in the revenue as per the individual game developers' settings. However, itch.io carries over all the external costs to the individual user - like payment processing fees and tax certificates. They carry the internal costs, the server, the admin, the software etc. (or recover it from their revenue share).
If people voluntarily donate to the games or assets that are free, then the person who made the game or asset will get some money - else they won't. There isn't any pattern there -some people will earn money, some will earn nothing.
I know there are sites that pay game developers x amount per download, but they have a different business model, and claim that they receive the income out of external sites paying them for the data collection on the users, or for advertising and pass that onto the game developers. But itch.io isn't one of those sites.
I just wanted to mention this: Both PayPal and Stripe transactions apply a fee of $0.30 + 2.9% per transaction. The default share for itch is 10% of the original asking price, I believe - but developers can change that. All without factoring in additional fees (like British pound to US dollars). If every free game left their suggested donation at $2 how generous does that “journalist” think either independent developers or their customers would have to be to arrive at that number?
The fact of the matter is, that “optional donation” in the majority cases translates to “free game”.
So, can’t the developers make money without someone donating or paying for the game?
No. Where would that money come from? itch.io is already hosting these games for free - which costs them about a five digit sum per month, regardless of actual sales made. Publishing indie games is hardly a goose that lays golden eggs - same goes for developing them…
As for seeing your earnings: “Creator Dashboard -> Payments”, I believe.