Indie game platform itch.io recently shared data showing that the number of new game pages created each day has nearly doubled in just a few months, climbing from roughly 3,000 in early August 2026 to regularly topping 6,000 by the end of October. With Steam also facing an influx of low-quality releases, concerns are mounting that generative AI is making the content glut across gaming platforms even worse.
After itch.io posted the chart on Bluesky, a user named Tommy's Homemade Games asked what was driving the surge in new pages. The platform simply replied, "Take a guess," alongside crying-face and robot emojis. When another user asked whether it was all "AI slop," itch.io responded with an exhausted-face emoji. While the platform stopped short of directly confirming the cause, its frustration with the situation was clear.
Of the more than 1.76 million game pages currently listed on itch.io, 131,929 carry the "AI Generated" tag, accounting for roughly 7.5% of the total. Meanwhile, the number of demos featured in the latest Steam Next Fest has also jumped from around 4,000 to more than 8,000.
More games, however, have not translated into comparable demand. itch.io specifically noted that although the number of new games added each day had doubled, downloads and purchases had not risen at the same rate.
As some players call for a blanket ban on AI-generated games, AI researcher Mike Cook said such a policy could be reasonable but might do little to curb the flood of new releases. Platforms would need to devote substantial manpower to reviewing submissions or establish a potentially controversial public reporting system. Even then, he argued, determining whether a game was created with AI is far more difficult than many people assume.
Valve has likewise questioned whether banning AI tools would actually work. As vibe coding lowers the barrier to game development, more projects are being uploaded in hopes of attracting attention online, even though players may have little interest in downloading or paying for them. Platforms now face the same challenge: keeping worthwhile games visible without allowing an avalanche of content to overwhelm the storefront search experience.
It is also worth noting that Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai previously warned that AI would drive game output even higher, though most of those titles would likely struggle to turn a profit. As the market fills with products that imitate familiar gameplay, he said, developers’ originality will become more important than ever.
via： PC Gamer