Itch.io is currently out of service due to a report about AI-driven phishing.
It is expected that Itch will be back online soon.
The independent video game sales website, Itch.io, is currently down due to a phishing report they consider to be erroneous. Although the platform's servers are still operational, the website's domain is redirecting to IP addresses that do not belong to Itch.io, making it inaccessible for most users.
Itch.io has blamed the pop culture collectibles company, Funko, for these inconveniences. In a post on X, they pointed out that the problem originated from a false phishing report generated by a brand protection software called Brand Shield, which was acquired by Funko. Although the disputed page has been removed, Itch.io's domain registrar, iwantmyname, likely deactivated the domain due to automated systems.
For now, Itch.io is awaiting a response from the domain registrar to reactivate their domain. In the meantime, if a user knows how to modify their hosts file, they can temporarily access the IP address 45.33.107.166, but they will need to remove this entry once the domain is restored. Itch.io hopes that the issues will be resolved within a few hours to avoid the need to implement a new domain name.
This situation comes just days after Itch.io began allowing its users to use their domain name for Bluesky accounts. Those who have invested $10 in the platform can link their Itch.io profile URL on Bluesky, but the current domain issues have caused anyone who switched to these custom URLs to face an "invalid handler" message on Bluesky until Itch.io's main domain is restored.