Content not allowed

Please start by reviewing our Content Policy before proceeding.

The content below will not be allowed on IGDB:

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Games in early development

At the moment, we accept games with the following statuses: Alpha, Beta, and Early Access. When submitting a game to IGDB, you must be able to present gameplay via images and/or videos. This media must be available online for easy access. If your game is in a very early stage of development (Pre-Alpha), please wait a bit longer before submitting it to IGDB.

Please be aware that if we believe your game is too early in development, it may be discarded.

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Kickstarter Projects

If your game is reliant on crowdfunding, please wait until the campaign is complete before submitting it to IGDB. The campaign must've been successful. This applies for other platforms as well, such as Indiegogo, Patreon, and GoFundMe.

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Specific Simulators

• Simulators that requires specific equipment

We allow games with peripherals if they are connected to a well-known platform, such as the Ring Fit Adventure. Simulator games that require specialized expensive equipment must showcase significant gameplay to be accepted into IGDB.

• Create & Play

Simulators that imitate creation software/tools are not permitted on IGDB. However, if it is a game with multiple features that allows you to create and play what you or others have created, it is allowed. A good example would be Super Mario Maker.

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Prologues & Demos

Demos: Games that were just made available as a demo and haven't been finished/have no plans to be finished are not allowed on IGDB (unless there is an extremely convincing reason to have it, such as newsworthiness or gaming history). However, if a game has a set release date and its development stage is "alpha" or higher, we do allow it (for example, if a game has a Steam page and a demo comes out). Make sure the word "demo" is not included in the title when creating a game page since the page will represent the full release only.

Prologues: Prologues and Preludes that are a part of the main story and are used as a demo to promote the game are not allowed as it will only create duplicated pages. However, it is acceptable to add if the Prologue or Prelude tells a different story than the one found in the full release.

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Games of Skills

Any games that permit the wagering of monetary funds is not allowed. This may also include "games of skill" where the payout rate is being set by the owner/developer. A good example of this would be remote controlled ufo catchers where a player can use an app to play online.

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Websites/Services with mini-games

We do not allow the creation of individual game pages on IGDB for websites that include multiple random mini-games, such as Newgrounds, Minigames.com, and Facebook Gaming. If you come across an interesting game on one of these websites, please create an entry for that specific game instead.

We do, however, allow pages where you can play a specific game in the web browser by visiting that URL. RonRon, Online-Go, and Wordle are a few good examples.

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Games without gameplay

Games with little to no gameplay elements will be validated on a case by case basis and may be rejected if it goes against what we consider to be a video game. This also includes:

• Virtual Experiences, such as music videos or simulators, that are lacking any objective or goal.
• Dress-up/make-up games or apps in which the goal is simply to stylize a character and save the result.
• Social Platforms/hubs & Virtual Communities
• Learning software/apps

Some non-game software for older systems will be accepted for historical purposes. You can read more about this over here.

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Games inside other games

IGDB recognizes that sometimes games have other games inside them. These typically fall into three scenarios:

• Bonus games - These are usually older games included as a bonus and not the core selling point of the main game. Examples include NES games found in Animal Crossing and arcade games found in the Yakuza: Like a Dragon series. We do not track these connections at this time.
• Minigames - Small activities within games, sometimes appearing as a “full video game” within the world of the main game. Examples include Twinbee Returns in Tokimeki Memorial, and Journey of the Prairie King in Stardew Valley. We do not track these on IGDB, as we would consider them to be part of their parent game.
• User-generated games - Games created by users made in main games like Roblox, Dreams, and Fortnite. In general, we do not track these, as we would consider them covered by the associated main game.

• We have made exceptions for LEGO Fortnite, Rocket Racing, and Fortnite Festival, as each of these are first-party creations and have full store pages on console storefronts.

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Other

• Scratch Games: We currently do not accept any Scratch-based games or games from similar tools like FlowLab, etc.

• Physical Pinball Machines

• Desktop Pets/Girls/Items: We do not accept characters/pets/girls/items for your desktop that just appear as an animation in the background when you use your computer/play games. However, it may be accepted if the application features gameplay and allows you to engage with it like a game. When submitting a contribution that falls under this category, please include gameplay footage or verification of the gameplay aspects.

• Private Servers

• Streamer Categories: Despite being part of Twitch, we do not allow specific streamer categories on IGDB. This also includes non-gaming categories. It is up to Twitch as a platform to manually add unique categories, and the best way to request a category is through their UserVoice.

Example: "Just Chatting" is not a category that was created through IGDB.

• Owning a page: You can't currently own your game's IGDB page. This also includes titles. Please don't just upload your game to claim a page if you haven't even begun developing it yet.

• Bad faith use of intellectual property: Submissions must not contain content that primarily relies on the use of well-known intellectual property (such as game franchises, characters, or brands) for recognition, without providing substantive gameplay or content related to the referenced IP.

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If you spot content that does not follow our guidelines for being on the site, you can either make an edit to remove them or get in touch to let us know!