Owner of itch.io accuses newly launched alternative w3itch.io of theft

pcgamer.com:

Here's another contender for Web3 is going just great(opens in new tab), the satirical website that documents each new disaster related to the ongoing blockchain-based reinvention of the internet. In its own words(opens in new tab), w3itch.io is an «open marketplace for independent game creators» where anyone can sell games and set their own prices. Sounds a lot like itch.io, a popular website that already exists, except for one key difference: w3itch.io plans to incorporate NFTs, cryptocurrency payments, and other web3 technology.

Itch hasn't been shy about making its position plain, declaring that NFTs are a scam earlier this year. Given that Steam has banned games with NFTs or cryptocurrency, it's natural that developers desperate to incorporate the blockchain into games want an alternative. It seems unlikely w3itch.io will be that alternative for long, as the site looks suspiciously similar to itch.io and its owner has admitted to using itch.io's CSS files(opens in new tab).

«You have stolen the UI of itch.io,» said itch's founder Leaf Corcoran, «blatantly ripping it off, in addition to using our name directly in your project. As far as I'm concerned, this is [a] scam to trick people by using @itchio's established brand on an unrelated project for your own profit.»

Corcoran reported the issue as a bug on w3itch.io's Github page(opens in new tab), which is the most developer way of handling the situation I can imagine. The problem goes further than ripping off webpage design, however, as Corcoran noted. «Additionally, upon going through the content on your platform, it appears you have stolen many games (see rpgmaker.net(opens in new tab)) for reupload without the consent of the creators of the games. For the sake of