Problems with Itch. Problems With Stripe. Problems with Prudes.

As of the 13th of March, Itch left us waiting for a payout of almost $1000 for over 30 days, then subsequently they cancelled that payout after contacting their support about it being delayed.

We were then told we're not eligible for payouts by itch anymore for terms of service violations or due to "risk" or something along those lines, they didn't tell us the exact reason.

We hadn't broken any of their rules, we've just been (rightfully) complaining to them about the timing of their payouts, since they often go over (their own) estimated time frame, without letting people know if there are issues.

On that occasion they were apparently having issues with payoneer, but instead of informing the devs on their platform they just left everyone in the dark for a month, to which I expressed my displeasure.

So it almost seems like a childish retaliation. Why would they suddenly decide to ban us after two years of payments?

If we're so dangerous, why would we have a two year partnership with steam, patreon and other websites and storefronts? 

Why does itch specifically have an issue with us?

If we're so dangerous, why have we never had a single chargeback filed against us?

Our games don't even contain any questionable topics other than heavy femdom. There are no ambiguous characters, there is no close relations, other than the femdom and monster girl aspect, it is pretty normal. Nothing too extreme or taboo.

The worst part is, the payouts we were waiting for were put back to pending and it says we need to wait for every transaction on the account to go past 30 days in order to request a final payout, thus ending any involvement with payouts for itch. We'll then still need to wait for them to process it after that, meaning the money will likely be in limbo for around 3 months.

In any other situation withholding money from someone for that period of time with no real valid reason would be almost criminal.

Itch thinks it is okay to play with our livelihoods either because we dared to complain about their service or for some arbitrary reason such as our revenue share not being enough or payouts being too difficult for them.

Especially with the timing that this situation came, it reeks of retaliation for simply complaining about poor service.

Why not pay out the cash and then close down access to payouts?

Why cancel all the pending payouts and force the money back into limbo?

There is no other explanation than trying to punish us for complaining.

Itch.io is ran arbitrarily and terribly. It is a miracle they are taken seriously considering the nonchalant and disrespectful way they behave towards devs on their platform.

Since this time, we've been forced into using Direct Payments via itch and stripe, as they are the only options itch allows for direct, which is also ridiculous if they are going to force devs into this situation. They should be more than capable of onboarding adult-friendly payment handlers, or letting us choose our own.

Stripe has today (predictably) closed our account due to the content of our games. Paypal is probably only a matter of time.

The prudeness of these companies needs to STOP. Playing with peoples livelihoods needs to STOP.

I'm so fucking tired of my livelihood and my sole income being in the hands of people and companies like this. Why can they control whether I can put food on the table for my family or not?

Because of this whole situation, I've been unable to pay my bills properly over the past month, but nobody cares because I'm an adult dev.

Why is it adult devs and others like us such as artists have to face so many problems and jump through so many hoops when its perfectly fine and much easier in fact for me to sell pictures of my butthole online if I so desired?

What is the difference?

If we aren't doing anything illegal, why does it matter how we make money?

This needs to stop.