The itch.io Site Domain Has Been Taken Offline By An Alleged Funko "Bogus Phishing Report"

As a seasoned gamer with decades of experience under my belt, I can’t help but feel a pang of concern and disbelief at the sudden disappearance of itch.io. This platform has been a beacon for indie game creators worldwide, providing us with a treasure trove of unique, innovative, and often groundbreaking titles that wouldn’t have seen the light of day otherwise.

The well-known digital marketplace for indie game creators, itch.io, has suddenly gone offline, causing a ripple effect throughout the gaming industry. This platform serves as an essential resource for developers, creators, and studios worldwide, offering them tools to showcase, distribute, and monetize their content while learning about “how players find, download, or engage with what they’ve produced.

As an ardent itch.io fan, I’m sharing some exciting news: The official social media accounts of itch.io have announced a statement about the platform’s temporary shutdown. In this declaration, they’ve leveled serious accusations, claiming that a misleading phishing report was the primary cause behind the site’s takedown. Interestingly, they’ve pointed a finger at Funko, the renowned toy manufacturer, as the sole instigator of this phishing report that led to itch.io’s temporary disappearance from the digital landscape.

As a dedicated fan, I’m sharing some updates I’ve come across regarding the platform we all love. While reports suggest that their store services are operational, there seems to be an issue with their domain accessibility. According to The Verge’s Tom Warren, the site is currently directing towards IP addresses that don’t belong to itch.io.

Without a doubt, @itchio has been removed by @OriginalFunko due to their overzealous “AI-Powered” Brand Protection Software, @BrandShieldltd, erroneously filing a phishing report. This false report was disregarded by our registrar, @iwantmyname, who chose to deactivate the domain instead of responding to our clarification.
— itch.io (@itchio) December 9, 2024

Due to some issues, the platform’s domain registration service has been disregarding their communications, resulting in the platform having its domain temporarily shut off. The team behind the platform has kept developers, creators, studios, and players informed about the situation all day long as they successfully removed the disputed page following the notice. They also mentioned that it was probably their registrar’s automated system that triggered the disabling of the domain.

Regrettably, they haven’t set a specific timeframe for when the domain will be operational again. Itch.io replied to a user’s question on Twitter, mentioning they’re waiting for a reply from the registrar. If the outage goes beyond eight hours, they might need to switch to a different domain to resume services quickly. However, they are optimistic that the issue will be resolved before then.

While they’re holding off for a reply, they’ve also clarified that they’re contemplating a different domain in light of this circumstance. However, they noted that switching to third-party services involves some complexities, making it more than just a simple changeover. Consequently, they suggested developers, creators, and studios to adjust their “host file usage” to 45.33.107.166 if feasible. They’ve cautioned those modifying their host files that they should delete these lines once the domain is operational again as they might hold an IP for a while, but it can be altered if updated on their “back-end system infrastructure.

2024-12-09 17:13

The itch.io Site Domain Has Been Taken Offline By An Alleged Funko “Bogus Phishing Report”

Read More

Minority Mindset