Indie Marketplace Itch.io Taken Offline Due To "Bogus Phishing Report" From Funko

Indie Marketplace Itch.io Taken Offline Due To "Bogus Phishing Report" From Funko

From TheGamer (Written by Sam Woods) on | OpenCritic

Update 09/12/2024 12:52 pm - itch.io has confirmed it is back online. The full statement from itch can be read below.

For years now, itch.io has been the place to go for unique indie games. Hosting over a million titles, many of which are fantastic, the platform has helped games like Celeste, A Short Hike, and Vampire Survivors find their footing.

These free games are some of the best you'll find on itch.io.

Over the last few hours, though, the platform has been offline, with the company sharing that a "bogus Phishing report" from Funko is to blame.

In a statement shared via its official Twitter account, itch.io said:

"I kid you not, @itchio has been taken down by @OriginalFunko because they use some trash "AI-Powered" Brand Protection Software called @BrandShieldltd that created some bogus Phishing report to our registrar, @iwantmyname, who ignored our response and just disabled the domain."

The company, which regularly raises money for charity, added:

"Also, for transparency, we *did* take the disputed page down as soon as we got the notice because it's not worth fighting stuff like that. Regardless, our registrar's automated system likely kicked to disable the domain since no one read...