In light of all the promise that AI will “revolutionize” gaming, this post is about how AI has already affected the home of experimental games: Itch.io.
– In the news lately
Last month, I was busy visiting PLAY Creative Gaming Festival in Hamburg when I got a message on BlueSky about how itch.io’s game assets section has been getting spammed by “AI junk”. The person was frustrated at itch’s lack of an AI policy. All this had left human creators hurting.
– Screenshots of AI search results that were flooding itch, via Croomfolk on BlueSky
Game assets are a cornerstone to indie game development, even an important aspect to itch.io’s steady stream of gamejams, because of how they make game creation accessible to newcomers.
Making good assets is a lot of work, even more so if you need ones that fit whatever engine you use. There’s a treasure trove of assets targeting small engines like GBStudio or more complex ones for Unity and Unreal.
Since these were getting flooded with sketchy AI junk, it made it harder for quality work to be seen.
There was no way to block this. Threads made on the forum were not getting any staff response.
This person was frustrated, trying to contact people from the community to get the ball rolling.
They also left me with the following collection of links from others on itch.io’s forum, talking about the harm AI spam has been causing, especially for finding relevant things…
– Screenshot from this “Ban AI generated game assets” thread.
* https://itch.io/t/4191316/ban-ai-generated-game-assets
* https://itch.io/t/2594398/about-ai-generated-content
* https://itch.io/t/2798636/are-ai-assets-controversial-on-itch-io
* https://itch.io/t/2994767/creators-i-blocked-should-not-appear-in-search-results
* https://itch.io/t/2960927/allow-users-to-completely-block-tags
* https://itch.io/t/2944825/ai-assets-are-so-annoying
* https://itch.io/t/4191316/ban-ai-generated-game-assets
I told them that I would try to make some noise, and posted my own quote about it…
this is sad. aside from the fact that AI art flooding itch assets is a disingenuous con, it also pollutes what is an invaluable resource for new people starting out that need good assets for their games. rendering this hard to use. i really hope itch finds a way to deal with this.
— Nathalie Lawhead (@alienmelon.bsky.social) November 15, 2024 at 2:51 AM
A small amount of noise was made.
Shortly thereafter itch.io made an update requiring asset page creators to tag their use of generative AI in their work…
– Screenshot via itch.io’s “Generative AI Disclosure tagging” announcement.
Everyone updated their pages accordingly, and it was back to usual…
I share this because I think it’s important for people to realize just how much of a community indie developers are.
Itch.io is small. It is created and maintained by a small group of people that work hard just to keep it running. It doesn’t have all the resources in the world.
Indie development is hard work and sacrifice, fueled by passion. Alternative platforms like itch.io are no exception.
The reality of the site is that, as much of a cornerstone it is to the experimental, art, LGBTQ, and the indie game scene… it exists precariously.
As many millions as it has raised for various charities in the form of community bundles, it does not see that same money come back to it. You can joke that it’s just five dollars being passed around between broke artists, but the amount it has raised for charity speaks volumes of the commitment from both the platform, and community, to see a better world.
Itch.io is not a monopoly like Google or Facebook.
In the truest sense of the word, it is “Punk”.
Despite it’s cultural relevance, and the irreplaceable cultural value it offers as a bastion to experimental work, it hardly compares to the size and power of a platform like Steam.
The reality is that meaningful art is small in the grand scheme of the game industry. It’s a community.
Itch.io not taking much more action against AI, other than letting creators tag their creations as AI or not, got some criticism for not being enough.
I saw a handful of people calling for an actual stance on AI.
Speaking for myself only, I thought it’s good that they are taking it slowly. AI has become a catchphrase largely divorced from what it really is.
AI has been part of social media, computing, and tech for a very long time. Large language learning models are hardly new. Current “AI” is more of an investor catchphrase, powering the latest gold-rush, than it is something realistic.
There are games that use AI in interesting ways. For example, see “Doki Doki AI Interrogation” on Steam…
I would go so far as to say that the messaging and concept behind the game would not be the same if it wasn’t using AI the way it does. The fact that it is, is almost a criticism of AI. It’s very interesting food for thought.
So there are cases where this exists in a meaningful manner. We could probably argue, or discuss, the ethics and legitimacy about work like this, but that would be another post…
AI has existed for a long time.
I strongly feel that the issue surrounding this is bigger than AI, and if that is not addressed, then the problems surrounding AI will simply move on to the next hype cycle in tech.
The problem goes back to old conversations about data sovereignty, to who controls our information, and who has the right to benefit from it. AI using what we post as “data to learn from” is no different than what advertisers, or social media companies selling our information, have been doing. The same issue has simply evolved to involve “AI”.
The audacity to replace actual human writing, curation, labor… with shoddy automated systems is a problem we’ve faced for longer than the current AI trend. Enshitification has been at it for a while, but the underlying issues remain.
For that, I don’t blame any technology. I view technology as a victim of this. I blame “Big Tech“.
– A bunch of logos to illustrate my point.
I’ve said all this before, in talks, that link to other writing by other more established voices, all saying the same thing… So I’ll just wrap up the rant and move on with the actual story…
If it is not AI it will be “another thing” because the current structure of tech is to self-inflate glorious sounding hype-cycles that quickly burst. It needs that “next big thing” to sustain itself, because it is built to prefer gold rushes over reality. Any collateral damage that results is simply an unfortunate casualty in the march of progress.
Tech exists for investors, not people. In the end, despite all the big talk and fancy promise of a sophisticated revolutionized future, one that no longer needs people, or artists, or writers, or journalists… it has little to no follow-through. The systems that are built around the current “next big thing” will always be shoddy, poorly thought out, and break (enshitified companies cannot make non-shitty products).
Given this capitalist culture, tech cannot serve any more meaningful purpose.
The future is up to “the little people” to build systems, structures, and communities that exist as alternatives (or responses) to “Big Tech”… as much as all those will constantly be threatened.
Which brings me to the spectacular IRL Kafkaesque story with a hint of Black Mirror that just happened…
Itch.io posted that they had been taken down by Funko of “Funko Pop” because the company used some AI Powered Brand protection Software called Brand Shield that created some bogus phishing report to their registrar, iwantmyname, who ignored their response and just disabled the domain.
I kid you not, @itch.io has been taken down by Funko of "Funko Pop" because they use some trash "AI Powered" Brand Protection Software called Brand Shield that created some bogus Phishing report to our registrar, iwantmyname, who ignored our response and just disabled the domain
— itch.io (@itch.io) December 9, 2024 at 8:13 AM
The above seems like the perfect trifecta of enshitification. Somewhere between “automated AI brand protection”, and “no humans are reachable because automation” is the IRL Black Mirror episode.
Itch.io did take the disputed page down as soon as they got the notice. They said that it’s not worth fighting this sort of thing. Regardless, their registrar’s automated system kicked in to disable the domain.
The entire site, and as a result, every developer selling their work there, took a financial hit.
Itch.io is presently my main source of income. I do not make a lot, but I make enough between that, and sometimes elsewhere, that I can comfortably float by for now.
Itch.io is also the only place where you can play all of my work. I rely on it.
To have that interrupted because of a scenario like this is… I can’t find the words.
– Downtime screenshot from itch.io’s bluesky post.
On BlueSky (I was very angry) I said that it would be great if Funko got sued for this… At least boycotted. That’s people’s actual livelihoods, and hard work, that they shut down for no good reason.
It would be wonderful if a precedent somehow got set. AI (the current gold-rush term) is allowed to create collateral damage like this without consequence. I see it constantly brushed off as another “hiccup” for the sake of progress.
But it is artists, writers, creators, and “everyone else”, that suffers under that progress. I would love to see that challenged…
– (Sidenote: When I was Googling about this, it was kind of nice to see r/funkofusion responding in solidarity.)
I guess the reason I am writing this post is so that I can say the following…
It is one thing that this sort of blatant false-flag accusation of someone’s work (livelihood even) happens on sites like Youtube, Instagram… social media in general… where you need to get a lawyer to even dispute it.
I can make excuses for that. Fine. These sites are owned by large players like Google. You can expect to “not matter” in environments like this because it is a large corporation that will always prefer the interest of other large corporations.
The sanctity of intellectual property must be protected above all else.
I got used to hearing stories about someone’s very important video, or account, getting banned (deleted, taken down…) because of false copyright claims.
I even have my own story: A long time ago I made a music video for a band. They posted it to YouTube. That band had their music video taken down from YouTube because of a copyright claim to *their own music*. Nobody knows who made the claim. It was their own original music. My own original video. No other IP’s were harmed. Random, but fine. It’s YouTube.
That having been said, it is another entirely different thing that the same dynamic happens outside, on the actual internet, to people who are building their own platforms… To actual communities.
When this happens to people that actually built and own their alternatives, you really have to take a step back and get properly worried. Will this become the norm? Will we all have to have lawyers and legal help to exist independently online? Will it only be a rich people thing then??
It is as if everyone else truly does not matter. That the interests of any corporation with enough money will always eclipse everyone else. They are forever more important than us. You are not safe, even when you have your own digital home elsewhere.
This is what worries me so much about this story.
There was some speculation as to what would happen next. Would Funko blame the AI company? The registrar? Would it be like that spiderman gif where all the spidermans are pointing at eachother?
– A spiderman gif of spidermans pointing at eachother.
Because, you know, accountability is too hard of an ask. I sure would know.
– A screenshot of Funko’s response on Twitter.
Funko released a statement on their Twitter, which rightfully received a community note that the “takedown request” was actually a “fraud and phishing” report to the registrar, instead of a usual DMCA request.
Personally I think that making a cute quip about being “fans of fans”, and sort of acting like they are also victims in this big misunderstanding (spiderman pointing: it’s the brand protection partner’s fault!)… is not fair to all the developers who lost income because of that.
I’m not sure you could make this situation any weirder, but why not. It’s 2024.
Let’s go.
The person running itch.io’s Twitter posted that Funko called their mom:
– Screenshot of the tweet.
“Got a strange call from a company about accusatory statements on your social media account. Call me.”
-Mom
It’s really hard not to say something sarcastic about this, so I’ll just move on…
I think the framing of “accusatory statements” is really interesting like this must have been a weird phone-call, and I can’t imagine how disturbing it must have been for family to randomly get pulled into this. Once it stops being funny, it’s almost scary.
At this point I wonder if Funko will try to sue itch? Will the community talking about this get bullied by them? After all, it’s 2024, the year of “I never had THAT on my bingo card” jokes.
If you look into this even more, you find out that Funko’s CEO is the same one that sent the Pinkertons after Magic the Gathering fans.
I’m in awe.
Even if none of these companies take responsibility (they won’t), and point fingers at each other (they will), there’s this menacing takeaway here that even alternatives are not safe from these systems. It’s cheap AI gimmicks, and AI given too much power, to a point that eventually all human value disappears. Not because it’s better, but because it’s cheaper.
AI, automation, and large corporations dominate the digital landscape. They can stomp out anything they think might violate some arbitrary rule to protect “their brand”. Their brand is more important than any of our creations. That’s dictated by money. Nobody is safe.
It’s incredible that you can have your own independent website, and still this would happen so easily.
I don’t think AI can replace artists. I don’t think AI can revolutionize gaming by replacing game developers. I think that AI has become a curve ball that we aren’t sure yet how to survive or navigate, because of the capitalist system that’s in place.
When so much authority is put into a system that makes the absolute dumbest mistakes too easily, there are serious consequences to everyone else.
In itch.io’s case it drowned out the search results of human artists for a long time before that was able to get addressed. Human curation can’t keep up with what is essentially a scammy generative art DOS attack.
In this story, it created unnecessary collateral. How can independent spaces survive that?
This situation reminds me of when software patents terrified me, that if I worked hard on my own business and created my own games someone would still come out of nowhere and say “Uh, that violates my patent that I bought from an estate sale. Pay up, or shut down.” I remember reading about chilling effects and such at the time.
Microsoft once served a DMCA takedown notice to OpenOffice because they did a blanket search for “office downloads” or something like that. Cheap and easy to do, and little consequence for getting it wrong then.
Having an often-wrong AI doing similar things on a more massive and more frequent scale? I hadn’t connected the two situations before now, so thanks for scaring me again. B-)
I’m not sure how to do the homework to choose the web host, the domain registrar, and ISPs who might be less inclined to bow down to larger corporate interests so quickly at the expense of me as their paying customer, which is what it feels like I would need to do to protect myself the best.
This is a really good point. I didn’t even think about framing it in the greater sense of software patents too, but that’s a great example of entities with money being able to gatekeep creation like this. Thank you. It’s given me more to think about lol.