The number of game pages doubles on Itch.io as AI games flood the store

Imran Khan,Contributing Editor

November 2, 2026

schedule2 Min Readphoto by stokkete via Adobe Stock/logo via Itch.io

Itch.io, a small independent game distribution store that allows any and all game creators to sell their games, reports that the number of store pages for games has doubled per-day in the past two months. In a post on Bluesky, a site representative implied this unprecedented rise is due to to generative AI's effects on game development, but points out that the increase in the number of pages has not resulted in a commensurate rise in sales or revenue.

The Bluesky post post reads "The number of game pages being created per-day has doubled in the past 2 months," accompanied by an image of a chart that shows a raise from 3,000 pages created on a given day around August to nearly 8,000 pages in October. While the Itch.io post does not directly say that this is because of generative AI, multiple replies to the post from other users ask if that is the case, and the Itch.io account responds with either tired emojis or robots.

A further reply also clarifies that "the number of downloads and purchases has *not* doubled," indicating that the higher number of game pages doesn't seem to be benefitting the store or developers in any significant way.

Browsing Itch.io's page of newest games, which shows games in the latest order they have been added, one can observe numerous thumbnails made using generative AI. Filtering using the "No AI" button removes entire pages from the store listings, going from 1,772,099 results down to 432,180 results. The AI disclosure tag is applied when a creator adds a game page, asking if the game contains any generative AI in the assets, but does not require the question to be answered for a page to be created.

In the Itch.io content creator quality guidelines, the section on generative AI includes a plea for truthful disclosure. "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." The overall guidelines page does say that failure to adhere to the guidelines could result in a page being removed, but it is unclear what the processes are for a game being removed for containing generative AI without reporting it.

Itch.io isn't the only video game storefront to see a rise in dashed-off AI games. In response to the flood of AI copies on its own store, Valve has asked developers on Steam to make their games "less likely to be copied" and to encourage developers to stand out by using Steam's community features to their fullest extent.

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About the Author

Imran Khan

Contributing Editor

Imran Khan has been in the games industry in various forms for over two decades. He has been a former senior editor at Game Informer, a professional loudmouth at Kinda Funny, and news director at Fanbyte. He has also been doing PR for Vicarious PR and Head of U.S. PR for Japanese VR studio MyDearest, in addition to Producer work on their latest title Brazen Blaze.

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