Hey everyone, Rai here!

With the start of September, I’d like to share some general news, and where I’m at with the development of Ravenous Hand. There’s been a lot that’s happened since my last devlog, but hopefully we can try to navigate through this together. 😔

As some may have noticed, the game has been hit by the ongoing wave of shadow-bans, despite being a free SFW title. With a current lack of communication from itch’s side, I’m only left with mine and other’s assumptions. Ravenous Hand, albeit brief in its current form, does depict scenes that contain forced advances and may have been flagged for this reason (via a keyword or something). But I don’t have any definite answers.

As we wait for the new content compliance guidelines and reindexing of pages, there is still a possibility that the game could be taken down in the process. And this may be especially so with the incorporation of a final build, which was originally intended to contain NSFW content to some capacity. To what extent now, will be determined by any future systems set in place by itch, since it’s still my wish to share the rest of Ravenous Hand with you all regardless (if the demo itself will even be allowed on itch in the end 😓).

With that being said, I have decided to delay a full release on this game until more concrete guidelines come out regarding this situation. The original release was this Fall, but this will likely have to be pushed to Winter, or even farther out. It’s difficult for me to figure out how to proceed with these unforeseeable factors, so for now I plan to focus more efforts onto other projects. I am hoping that we’ll receive more transparency soon (and best-case, Ravenous Hand is in the clear) but realistically this is a stalemate that may last for a while.

It’s definitely disheartening to see many developers in this community having to censor their creative freedom and outlets to try and stay afloat in these uncertain times. Please try to support those who have been affected, and if you wish to help take action against the payment processors that are dictating this, you can find resources here.

Now for more hopeful updates:

I still do want to do something for Ravenous Hand (especially since the current build feels a bit half-baked to me), so at the very least, I do intend to still put out a small update that essentially gives the prologue some polish and sets the foundation for the final build before the end of this year. This will feature things like an updated UI, updated art, additional CGs/ choices, and a voice actor for Riven! Not much in terms of the overarching story but I hope you’ll look forward to it! 🙏

Additionally, we are currently working on free-to-play Murder Mystery VN that will come out sometime between October/November. It will contain point-and-click mechanics, a 15-character cast, and a spooky mystery to solve 👻 It’ll be our first full-length game, and we’re excited to show off everyone’s hard work once that’s finished!

A small TLDR to recap:

• I am delaying Ravenous Hand’s full release due to the delisting, and will wait for further news regarding compliance guidelines
• Ravenous Hand’s demo will still get a small update before the end of 2025
• We are releasing a free-to-play murder mystery VN this Fall

Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you in the next devlog!!