Finding the latest and greatest games out there can be quite a daunting task. With so many marketplaces for artists to post their content on, itch.io might just seem like another random storefront. But we’re here to take a deeper look at the indie-oriented online store and figure out: is itch.io safe for downloading games?
Is itch.io safe? — explained
Itch.io was first launched back in 2013. And for the most part, the website has the same feel as it did over 10 years ago. The main appeal to a store page like itch.io, is the fact that any indie developer can upload a game on the website for free and start selling copies. Gamers can even download a desktop app for itch.io much like Steam and the Epic Games Store.
This is a blessing and a curse since players can experience any new game from anyone in the world, there of course can be room for malicious intent. Thankfully, itch.io has implemented plenty of safeguards to protect users.
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First, we want to go ahead and say that thanks to the wonderful community, itch.io is safe for downloading games. What’s more, the majority of the games you purchase on itch.io are DRM-free. In fact, you’ll find a lot of indie titles from other reputable stores like Steam and Epic on itch.io. The website makes sure to scan every game that gets uploaded for any viruses.
From there, suspicious files will get flagged for a real person to manually review to see if it is carrying malware. That being said, as with any files you get off the internet, it’s important to be proactive. Because even so-called “trusted” websites like Steam can have viruses crop up in random files of a new game. So no matter what website you’re downloading from, always make sure you double-check files before opening them.
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