Indie game platform itch.io says it deleted “a couple terabytes” of AI slop

Indie game platform itch.io has revealed that it deleted several terabytes of AI-generated content from its website as concerns grow over the increasing number of games being created using artificial intelligence.

The platform, which allows independent developers to upload and distribute their games, has guidelines restricting excessive amounts of automatically generated content, including projects created with minimal human involvement.

The announcement comes as other gaming storefronts face similar concerns. A recent analysis found that nearly half of all new games released on Steam in October 2026 disclosed using AI-generated content.

Itch.io deletes terabytes of AI-generated content

"Just deleted a couple terabytes of ai slop," itch.io wrote in a November 2 post on X, which attracted more than 1.6 million views.

The platform did not specify how many games or projects were affected or provide details about the individual uploads that were deleted.

https://twitter.com/itchio/status/2117458324920967549?a=xzXUZ4eLoIskEjgC5Es&s=20

Under its existing quality guidelines, itch.io warns developers against using automated systems to mass-produce product pages, which it considers spam.

This includes games predominantly created by AI with minimal human involvement, randomly generated content with little curated design, and multiple versions of essentially identical AI-generated projects.

Developers are also required to disclose their use of generative AI through a dedicated section on their project's editing page. Those that do so are listed under an "AI Assisted" browsing category.

However, the platform does not prohibit all uses of AI. Its guidelines state that developers can use automatically generated content as long as it adds substantial value to the experience and is clearly disclosed.

https://twitter.com/itchio/status/2117460138026221869?a=DL1w-fQ0fCERrXhlqrc&s=20

Traditional game systems, including NPC pathfinding, enemy behavior, and procedural level generation, are not classified as generative AI under these rules.

The cleanup comes amid growing concerns about AI-generated games on Steam, where an analysis of approximately 63,600 releases found that 49.9% of games launched in October 2026 disclosed using AI, compared to just 1.7% in January 2024.

Some developers have also raised concerns about how the increasing number of submissions could affect smaller studios.

On November 2, indie publisher 2 Left Thumbs blamed a "tidal wave of AI-slop" for allegedly overwhelming Steam's review process and delaying the release of its co-op game Wheel Make It.

Despite accumulating more than 11,000 wishlists before launch, the game peaked at just 15 concurrent players in the 24 hours after its November 1 release.

The publisher argued that the delay damaged the game's launch visibility, although Valve has not confirmed that AI-generated submissions were responsible for the review backlog.