Funko Calls itch.io Founder's Mother Following the "Trash AI" Situation

Yesterday, the entire game industry united in making a laughingstock out of pop culture figurine manufacturer Funko when itch.io founder Leaf "leafo" Corcoran complained on Twitter that the company pressured the website's registrar, iwantmyname, to temporarily shut down itch.io after Funko's "trash 'AI-powered' Brand Protection Software called BrandShield" filed a false phishing report. In less than 24 hours, the situation somehow managed to get even more ridiculous, with leafo's latest post – provided it's true and not a meme – downgrading Funko from "clowns" to "an entire circus" in the eyes of many.

Described as "not a joke," the Founder's new tweet reveals that Funko went full tattletale mode and called leafo's mother to report her misbehaving child and their "accusatory statements" made yesterday on Twitter regarding the shutdown debacle. If true, the company's decision to contact the relatives of someone they have a disagreement with could be seen as a threat, going against not only Funko's own statement on the itch.io situation but also basic human decency, and may even be borderline, if not outright, illegal.

Streamer and Director of Strategy at offbrand games Pirate Software and indie game publisher Devolver Digital have already expressed their support for leafo:

And here is Funko's community-noted statement succinctly described by one of the commenters as "lots of words to *not* say 'we are sorry'":

At the moment, Funko has not commented on the developer's accusations, neither confirming nor denying them, presumably in an attempt to resolve the issue with itch.io behind closed doors or to sweep the entire controversy under the rug. Whether the company's call to Mrs. Corcoran is a meme or a disturbing reality, it's clear that the story is far from over, and "an entire circus" may attract even more unwanted attention with its actions.

And what do you think about the situation? Is leafo's tweet a joke or not? Leave your thoughts in the comments and don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.