3 public accounts from developers, grouped by theme, with positive and negative experiences side by side.
Each entry is one developer's public account, summarized neutrally with a short quote and a link to the original. We have not verified these claims; experiences vary and terms change. Spot an error or have a story? Tell us.
r/gamedev comment · date not shown · original
A text adventure web game got 55.2K browser plays and 11.7K downloads, with about 150 daily pageviews in its first two years that later fell to about 80.
“55.2K browser plays and 11.7K downloads”
One developer's account.
exodrifter (blog postmortem) · 2021-10-02 · original
A free, pay-what-you-want text game got thousands of browser plays but only two direct payments ($25 and $2). Most of the money (about $760) came from joining a bundle; net profit was about $150. The developer notes that itch.io only asks for donations on download, not on browser play.
“only asks for donations if you try downloading the game”
One developer's account.
Spiral Atlas (blog) · 2024-11-09 · original
A hobbyist earns about $100 a year across visual novels, tools and assets, with under 1% of downloads paying. Short browser games got visitors but no payments.
“I make about $100 a year”
One developer's account.
Free browser games rarely earn on itch.io itself. Bundles and complete paid games did better in these accounts. Use it for reach and feedback, not income.
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