The indie video game store that prides itself as an open marketplace is being deluged by game pages, doubling the usual number without a proportional increase in sales.
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.
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.
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