Thanks for the update! Have you considered a Verified role system? The verified roles is like x system. "User Name" ✔ [Verified Developer]. So you can protected the users from malware, and reduced your workload.
A user becomes “Verified” after meeting basic criteria, for example:
- Account is at least XX days old
- Clean track record (no reports or violations)
- Has published a few pages that people actually downloaded or played
- Their game is already available or promoted on other trusted sites
Then the flow is simple:
- Verified user → auto-approved for indexing. No manual work for admins. BUT IF IT GOT CAUGHT CHEATING, PERM BAN
- Not verified → goes to the review queue. Admins check if the game or app looks legit. Obvious spam or malware can be auto-rejected.
For extra filtering, unverified users could contact support if their game isn’t indexed, using a quiet support channel rather than a public announcement. This way, only people who really need help would reach out.
Admins would then spend their time only on risky or unknown accounts, trusted devs get indexed right away, and publishing stays free for everyone. And Itch io will be leading market. I think steam is doing like this
If you dont trust, you can copy and paste to the claude my text, what good and bad for this rules happen, what best should i do to reduces staff workload, and reduces users from malware. make the scenario