Indie gaming platform itch.io has been taken offline after Funko allegedly reported a “false phishing report” to the site’s registrar.

In a short message sent to Bluesky this morning, the itch.io team said that Funko had been using the AI-powered “garbage” brand protection system Brand Shield and that the site’s domain had been blocked despite its response to the challenge Phishing report was disabled instead.

“I kid you not, itch.io was shut down by Funko from ‘Funko Pop’ because they used a stupid ‘AI-powered’ brand protection software called Brand Shield that created a fake phishing report to our registrar iwantmyname, which our “Ignored the reply and just deactivated the domain,” the message said.

“I hope you all have a nice Sunday evening.”

I kid you not, @itch.io was removed from “Funko Pop” by Funko because they use a stupid “AI-powered” brand protection software called Brand Shield that created a false phishing report to our registrar iwantmyname, which our ignored response and just deactivated the domain

— itch.io (@itch.io) December 9, 2024 at 7:13 am

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“Sue them,” one respondent said. “Every minute is lost revenue. As someone who hosts games on itch.io, I’m angry about this nonsense.”

“Itch should sue Funko, their registrar and BrandShield for loss of business on behalf of their own interests and the interests of their users, developers and buyers,” another added. “Because this is something that not only affects Jitch, but also everyone who hosts jams and releases software and games there.”

At the time of writing, itch.io is still offline.

Itch.io recently announced that developers will now have to disclose whether generative AI has been used in their work.

In a statement, the platform explained its new tagging requirement, saying it is a mandatory field for asset creator pages “to ensure buyers are informed about the origin of the material they receive.”