Hello,

My game "mr Markiyuanchik the game" was published about a month ago, but it is still completely missing from the search results. 

My itch.io account was created back in May 2024. All settings are correct: status is Public, files are uploaded, and it is a custom indie project. 

I already contacted email support and received Ticket ID: #401859, but I haven't received any reply yet. Could a moderator please take a look and help me get my project indexed?

* Game Link: https://globgalabgalab.itch.io/mr-markiyuanchik-the-game

* My Username: Globgalabgalab

Thank you!

You have a picture of a naked real life woman in your screenshots. Please make sure you read the rules.

I’m closing this thread since there appears to be a lot of other people trying to jump in with their own issues. Please create your own topic if you need help, do not re-use other people’s topics for account related restrictions of visibility issues.

No, but I’ve let our admins know about your ticket.

Hello again. It's been over a week since your reply, and nearly a month since the game was published. My ticket #401859 is still completely ignored by the admins, and the game is still not indexed.

I have even made the game completely free (No payments), filled in all the tags, and updated the launcher. Why is my completely custom project being hidden like spam, while the store front is flooded with thousands of AI clones? Could you please ask the admins to finally check my ticket and open the search indexing? Thank you.

New week, same issue. It's now been 40 days of total silence. The game is completely free, manual Paint art, hand-censored, and absolutely no AI tools were used. 

Why do real, authentic human-made projects have to wait for well over a month and get completely hidden from search, while the storefront is flooded with generic AI generation every single day? The screenshots in the main post are now updated with gameplay GIFs so anyone can see this is a real custom project. Could someone from the administration finally open ticket #401859, review the custom launcher, and enable the search indexing? This delay is completely unreasonable.

Day 41 Update: Still absolutely zero response. Title updated to reflect the exact number of days this custom, non-AI project has been totally ignored by the support team. 

The ticket #401859 remains untouched. The gameplay GIFs are uploaded, the game is completely free, and all safety guidelines are manually met. Why is independent human work being buried like spam for 41 days straight? Can someone from the administration finally click the button and fix the search indexing?

Day 42. Still no indexing and no response from the administration. 

Ticket #401859 remains completely ignored. The project is 100% free (No payments), uses zero AI, and all safety guidelines are manually met. Can an admin finally look into this and enable the search indexing? Thank you.

Same here. My game has been waiting for indexing for 42 days too.

Day 43 Update. Welcome to the thread, @ilya_creator. It is absolutely unacceptable that multiple creators are stuck with 42-43 days of complete silence. 

This is no longer an isolated glitch — it's a massive support failure. My project is 100% free, manually censored, with zero AI. Can an admin finally look into ticket #401859 and clear the search indexing for independent creators? Thank you.

And here I was thinking mine was taking a long time—I've been waiting for 15 days, I've submitted a support ticket, and nothing...

Checked your game logged out just now, so you have a receipt for the ticket:

- globgalabgalab.itch.io/mr-markiyuanchik-the-game -> loads 200, title and author show.

- Search for the exact title "mr Markiyuanchik the game" -> No results found.

- Same words without quotes -> about 162 projects listed.

So it isn't low-ranked, it's absent from the index. Your page isn't broken; the index entry never got created, and no tag or price change will fix that. Only support can.

Same pattern as everyone else in this thread: live page, zero on exact title. Paste those three lines into ticket #401859.

(I run page-vs-index checks like this as work; first one free if anyone wants it.)

Day 44 Update. Huge thanks to @experiencia for running a professional page-vs-index check on my game. The technical data confirms a total system failure on itch.io's end:

- globgalabgalab.itch.io/mr-markiyuanchik-the-game -> loads 200

- Search for the exact title "mr Markiyuanchik the game" -> No results found.

As the expert stated, the index entry was never even created, and no setting changes can fix this except for manual support intervention. Ticket #401859 has been completely ignored for 44 days straight. Multiple creators like @ilya_creator and @Sala193 are joining this thread with the exact same issue.

Can an administrator finally do their job today before the weekend, look into ticket #401859, and manually fix the search index for our projects? This is ridiculous.

Just a note: this isn't an error with the indexing system, nor is it a glitch.

When a game isn't indexed, it’s because the system has deliberately flagged your account or game as suspicious; it won't index it until a staff member reviews it.

The problem is that the staff lacks the manpower to handle all these reviews, so it’s becoming increasingly common to see wait times of several weeks or even a couple of months (I’ve seen various posts mentioning two-month waits). It’s not just about a staff member hitting the "index" button; they need the time to thoroughly review your game and account to verify that there are no issues.

On a personal note, looking at your page, I see images that suggest adult content. I understand you’re doing it as a parody—and perhaps that’s why you don’t consider it adult content—but there are a couple of images that would be considered inappropriate if viewed at work or on public transport.

I mention this because if the staff member reviewing your project sees that you haven't applied an NSFW tag, they might consider it a violation of Itch's Terms of Service, which would result in your content not being indexed.

Ah okay, then I can set my mind at ease, because it hasn't even been a week since I published my application and I've already written to support (without receiving a reply, which I see has happened to others as well). I presume that in the age of AI agents, they could design something to help those in charge (especially if they are understaffed) process the high volume of submissions—or at least make it crystal clear that it's not a matter of waiting a few days, but most likely months, so at least people are aware of it.

Monday Update: It is now Day 47 of total silence. The thread has reached over 410 views, proving that this issue affects many creators.

Special thanks to @hechelion for the helpful advice. Following that guidance, I have officially applied the appropriate Content Warning and NSFW/Adult content tags in the settings to fully comply with Itch's Terms of Service. Everything is now perfectly handled manually.

Ticket #401859 is still completely ignored. Welcome to the thread @Simpl_pseudocode, @ilya_creator, and @Sala193. The game is 100% free and safe. This endless delay is totally unfair to independent creators. Can an admin finally review the files and activate the search indexing today? Thank you all for the amazing support in this thread!

I hadn't had the chance to carefully read through this section yet, but now that I have, I couldn't help but notice a fairly widespread issue regarding application indexing. The standard procedure where moderators submit the issue to the admins doesn't seem to yield particularly positive results. Perhaps all of this is also caused by suboptimal communication and partial, likely insufficient information about internal procedures and the potential pitfalls one might (even accidentally) run into.

I fully understand that submissions are overwhelming (and AI slop certainly hasn't helped in that regard: I don't mean AI-assisted projects, but full shovelware generated entirely by it) and manpower is likely limited. However, I believe a solution needs to be found, as this negatively impacts how serious developers perceive the platform.

In fact, given that my ticket has been unresolved for days (like many others) and I don't intend to start my own thread right now (as I suspect it would be useless to the cause, as seen here), I was starting to consider whether to delete my account and publish on Steam instead, even paying the $100 fee despite it being a free project. It would be a shame, since I had chosen Itch.io partly out of "ethical" reasons, wanting to support a certain vision of an online store. Still, I think a minimum level of consideration (speaking generally, not just about my case since I've "only" been waiting for a week) should be expected; at least, that's my view.

Honestly, I don't believe that threats, appeals, or coaxing of any kind will yield any results. If I understood correctly, the moderator isn't an employee but a volunteer community member, so there's only so much he can do. Frankly, if that's how things stand, I don't envy him at all, since I would never put myself out there like that for free for a company that acts this way.

We shouldn't even be here discussing these issues, simply because they shouldn't exist in the first place. It's unacceptable for an online store not to have clear policies and precise rules to manage the indexing of published applications. It might seem like they do, but in practice they don't, and the moderator's terse, brief responses prove it. Requests sent to the admins are like a black hole with zero feedback, and it's only natural to feel frustrated by this lack of communication.

Frankly, though, this is more their problem than mine, as I wouldn't hesitate to move elsewhere if it comes to that. I'm just disappointed because I had high hopes and expectations for this platform, which have been completely let down up to this point. Truly a shame.

I would also like to clarify that the core issue isn't even the wait to see the application published, but the lack of clear and transparent timelines and procedures, not knowing whether it will take hours, days, months, or if it will happen at all, and if so, why it wasn't published or why it's blocked. As I mentioned, the insufficient and sometimes contradictory communication is the heart of these complaints, and until this is resolved (if it ever will be), there can be no real improvement.

Just to give an example: after reading through multiple threads carefully, I discovered that there is no consistent, precise rule. Sometimes apps from newly registered users are indexed almost immediately, while other times apps from veteran users remain pending for a long time or get de-indexed after having been indexed, all without any clear explanation. I hope people realize that this can only breed resentment among developers.