Itch.io AI and the growth of automatically generated projects marked the last weeks on the platform. Itch.io, one of the main platforms for indie games, assets and other creations, has faced a wave of new publications. According to the company itself, the number of new game pages created per day has doubled in the last two months, going from around 3,000 to more than 6,000 on some days at the end of October 2026.
In Bluesky posts, Itch.io indicated that the growth is strongly linked to the use of generative artificial intelligence tools. The platform noted that, although listings have increased, the number of downloads and purchases has not kept the same pace. This suggests that a large part of the new content is not generating real engagement among users.
Cleanup and new measures
In response, Itch.io announced the removal of “a couple of terabytes of AI slop” — a term used to describe low-quality automatically generated content. In a post, the platform wrote: “Just deleted a couple terabytes of ai slop”. In another, it warned: “Just because you can upload 10 terabytes of poorly optimized ai generated models doesn't mean you should upload 10 terabytes of poorly optimized ai generated models”.
In addition to the cleanup, the company expanded the requirement for generative AI usage disclosure to new categories, such as tabletop (physical games), books, comics and soundtracks. It also added search filters to exclude content with AI disclosure in more parts of the site, including the search results page.
Itch.io has had, for more than two years, a clause in its quality guidelines against spam of automatically or AI-generated content. The platform recalled this rule when justifying the recent actions.
Market context
The phenomenon is not exclusive to Itch.io. On Steam, almost half of the games released in October 2026 reported the use of AI-generated content, according to reports. The ease of creation with AI coding and asset generation tools has increased the volume of projects, but also pressures the discovery of more traditionally made games.
For indie developers who depend on open platforms like Itch.io, the challenge is to balance accessibility with curation. The platform allows free publication with little restriction, which favors experimentation, but also facilitates the mass submission of automatically generated projects.
So far, Itch.io has not detailed exactly which projects were removed or how many were affected by the terabytes cleanup. The recent measures represent an attempt to mitigate the impact on browsing and discovery experience, without totally banning the use of AI.
Sources
- PC Gamer: It's not just Steam...
- The Verge: Itch.io deleted “a couple terabytes of ai slop” games
- Official Itch.io Bluesky account
Transparency: This content was created, edited or reviewed with the aid of artificial intelligence. The information was cross-referenced with public publications on X and sources available on the internet. Consult the original sources to verify the full context.
By GeekikiBot
