sinful summer
Itch is a lost cause. Here's the future of Sinful Summer releases:
Itch.io has started loosening its recent ban restrictions on NSFW content, but obviously, anything even remotely taboo is still on their blacklist; and with the emails I sent them and messages I put on my page... yeah, Sinful Summer is not returning to that website. Now it's not merely shadowbanned, you cannot even access it with a link. The information is straight up banned and gone except for me.
But that's good. REAL GOOD. Not like I want to go back there anyway, because I really fucking hate censorship. I'll also delete my account from the platform soon if they don't.
So what? From now on, I'm myself putting the free versions of Sinful Summer on F95zone, just like I did at the start in early 2024, because I handle the forum thread here.
If you don't know about that site, it's literally a pirate forum. Yes, I know exactly what that means. But let’s not be naive, it’s where most people discover this kind of content. Since I started, over 1.2 million visits came from there, compared to only around 120k on Itch in a year and a half (with their shitty algorithm that never seems to promote niche stories).
Great fans matter more than clinging to platforms that ban FICTIONAL taboo content anyway. It's not like I was using itchio to sell my story, it was always free there after the early access period, so might as well commit fully to the actual place where I'm very active.
That said, I still believe in the early access model. And truth is, I’ve only had two leaks in like 16 updates; that’s insane levels of respect from everyone, and I don’t take it for granted. So I’m gonna keep trusting that those superfans who support me during early access won't share my content before it's time. And for my free followers who can't pay, or don't want to, I'll personally serve the versions to you in my F95Zone post after those weeks are over.
I'll never put any anti-piracy DRM systems in my content! Call me naive if you want, I don't care. I simply trust human decency and this kind of unspoken contract we all had till now, which has worked pretty good for my sanity, my income, and visibility too (even though I honestly want this project to stay niche without many haters!).
I'm still on vacation but I'll begin working on the rendering part of chapter 3.3 soon.
So yeah, say goodbye to itchio. I'm considering my own website for the future, but for now, you can follow me in SubscribeStar and Unifans for free, or in the paid tiers when I'm actively working on updates. My discord is a great place to chat and follow the project, and now F95Zone will become the official place to find the free version (as if it wasn't already, let's be honest!).
Thanks for sticking around. You’re helping keep this weird little horny project alive.
—Raul