Itch.io Faces Hours-Long Outage After DDoS Attack

Indie game marketplace itch.io went offline for several hours earlier today, October 16, 2025, following a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. The downtime left both developers and players frustrated, especially those in the middle of game jam submissions or asset downloads.

Itch hit by DDoS attack

The issue was first acknowledged by the official itch.io account on Bluesky at around 2:26 AM GMT. According to the update, the site’s hosting provider, Linode, had imposed a networking restriction on the main web server as a mitigation step. While that move temporarily blocked the attack, it also made the platform inaccessible to everyone.

By 8:04 AM GMT, the itch.io team confirmed that the site was back online after an emergency migration to a new setup. The developers explained that Linode’s DDoS "protection" essentially amounted to shutting down services, forcing them to take matters into their own hands.

Outage trackers like DownDetector showed a spike in user complaints during the downtime, with hundreds of reports flooding in. If you were trying to upload a project or grab a new indie title this morning, you probably ran into the same wall as many others. Thankfully, the site is now operational again, though the team has said they’ll continue monitoring for any lingering issues.

This isn’t the first time itch.io has been hit. A similar bot-driven attack disrupted access just last month, between September 13 and 14. And it’s not just itch.io: Steam, Riot Games, and Epic Games have also faced comparable attacks in the past week, suggesting a broader wave of disruptions across the industry.

For those unfamiliar, itch.io was launched in 2013 by Leaf Corcoran and has since grown into a massive hub with over 1 million products as of late 2024. Unlike traditional storefronts, it’s a creator-first platform where developers set their own prices, run sales, and fully customize their game pages. But the platform has also been in the spotlight recently for other reasons. itch.io has deindexed several adult games due to pressure from payment processors, sparking debates about censorship and creative freedom. On top of that, some developers have voiced concerns about delayed payments. The company has responded by saying it is working on “additional” payment methods to address these issues.