i posted this on reddit and discord so im gonna post it here too. thank you to all the new players for buying and playing Your Only Move Is HUSTLE over the winter sale. I never thought this game I made for my friends and I to goof off in would be going so strong this long after release with over 700 freaking modded characters on the steam workshop and tons of people playing it all the time. it's very surreal and I am thankful.

for anyone wondering about new content, I don't have any exciting news. YOMIH was never meant to be a long term project, and the more I work on the game, the more haggard and sick it makes me (both mentally and, apparently, physically now too). long term projects like this are just difficult for me. it's also not really in my blood to milk it like a business or to build a brand around it. this is why there is no paid dlc, customization is fully free to everyone, and I almost put out the game itself for free until people begged me to sell it, so I picked the highest price for which I could stomach peddling my little stickman software. I still feel weird about that decision.

but I want to show my appreciation, and offer some assurance that I'm still alive and committed to fixing any major issues when they come up like the lobby crashing thing. game is not abandoned by any means, just coasting along for now. there's an update on the unstable branch I still need to eventually finish up, and a final 6th character I've been planning for a long time if I can hold my nose and dive back into the code once more. before anyone asks, mobile and Mac ports are probably not happening any time soon unless I find a really awesome publisher who takes care of absolutely everything for me.

for those who don't know, I've been making loads of free games since the release of YOMIH—mostly small scope jam games but you might find them fun. peep those at https://ivysly.itch.io/ . this is where most of my dev energy has been going lately. I have been thinking about worthy successors to YOMIH, and if there ever is one, it will be a lateral shift and not a direct sequel; I don't have it in me to design and balance another fighting game. but I've had some ideas about what to do with the main cast 🙂

anyway I love you guys. it feels good to be proud of not just my own game but the awesome community
who has turned it into something bigger. keep it real -ivy sly ːorganiccucumberː

PS if anyone is interested in hearing me talk about myself more and occasionally post project updates you can follow me on blue sky[bsky.app] as i have largely abandoned twitter.