HELLO KITTY ISLAND ADVENTURE players call out devs for promising less transparency

Hello Kitty Island Adventure developer Sunblink is in hot water with its player base following an update about the game’s City Town DLC—but the main criticism is of the team’s promise of less transparency moving forward.

On October 15, Sunblink released a statement in the Hello Kitty Island Adventure community Discord server stating that, despite repeated statements from the developers that City Town would make its debut on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Steam before the end of the year, it will now be released on these platforms in Q2 2026. It’s a major blow for many, especially those who purchased the game in January assuming that City Town and its main character, the rainbow bunny Usahana, would be included.

To add insult to injury, per some player comments, the City Town DLC will be a paid expansion much like the recently-released Wheatflour Wonderland DLC. Both expansions are available for Apple Arcade players (who pay a monthly subscription fee to access Hello Kitty Island Adventure and other AA games) at no additional cost. 

Following Sunblink’s announcement, players shared their feelings on Discord, Reddit, and social media. This included starting a discussion thread in the Discord’s feedback section. Chief Product Officer Chelsea Howe, who frequently answers player questions and interacts directly with them on Discord, participated in the feedback thread. This included sharing a long post in which Howe attempted to address the most repeated feedback from players.

One section of Howe’s post in particular has drawn even more ire than the City Town DLC update itself.

“People are disappointed by the communication around the release—yep, this one’s on us. We were quite confident that we’d get to release City Town initially (a ‘part 1’) this year, which is why we talked about it,” Howe wrote.

“This contributed to additional disappointment, so we (and me specifically!) are going to give less frequent updates (or keep them to ‘still working, nothing new to announce’) and not provide as much transparency into our development, because at the end of the day development is always going to have bumps and setbacks, and we don’t want that to lead to continuous player disappointment,” Howe continued.

The promise of less transparency is seemingly the exact opposite of what players want. But how did this situation get so out of hand to begin with?

Why is the City Town DLC such a big deal?

Hello Kitty Island Adventure was released on Apple Arcade in July 2023, and City Town was added in the game’s 2.0 update in September 2024. It introduced fan-favorite character Usahana and a brand new area to explore, including new shops, new craftable items, new recipes, new critters, and a group of new island visitors.

At time of writing, Apple Arcade subscribers pay $6.99 per month for access to a whole library of exclusive titles, including upgraded versions of free mobile games like Balatro and Slay the Spire.

In January 2025, Hello Kitty Island Adventure was released on Nintendo Switch and Steam, then for PlayStation 5 in August 2025. The base game costs $39.99 or players can opt for the Deluxe Edition (which includes dozens of past event items, including clothing and furniture, as well as additional resources) for $59.99.

Although Sunblink was careful not to include any City Town content in its promotional language or images for Hello Kitty Island Adventure for these platforms, non-Apple Arcade players have known about City Town since its AA release and thus expected to have access to it when they purchased the game.

One of the most repeated questions in the HKIA Discord is a variation of, “When will non-AA players get City Town?” 

Initially, the developers stated that City Town was not included in the initial HKIA release for new platforms because it wasn’t finished yet. For the last 10 months, the developers have openly communicated about their hopes to get City Town into the hands of all players before the end of the calendar year.

In its most recent update, Sunblink said,

Recently, we began our City Town DLC closed beta with the goal of launching Part 1 on Switch, PC, and PS5 by the end of this year. However, feedback from the beta made it clear that we still have a significant amount of work to do in order to reach the level of quality this release (and our players) deserve.

We always try to deliver the best experience possible. We’d like to integrate the feedback (and our learnings from Wheatflour Wonderland) and make City Town the best it can be, rather than rush it out before it’s ready. With that in mind, we’ve updated our roadmap: the City Town DLC is now planned for next year, likely around Q2 2026 (April–June). It will be a single paid release, similar in structure to Wheatflour Wonderland. Pricing details will be shared closer to launch.

In its statement, Sunblink also revealed that Apple Arcade players will soon have access to “a completely redesigned [City Town] map that improves gameplay flow, storytelling, and navigation,” among other oft-requested changes.

Sunblink never stated whether City Town would be a free content update or paid DLC for non-AA players, but this obfuscation is diminishing player trust even more. It’s also clear from player feedback following this most recent announcement that many players bought the game assuming City Town would be included, and now feel betrayed to learn that they’ll have to pay more money for it.

As one player pointed out in the community Discord server, the cost of HKIA Deluxe Edition for Nintendo Switch, Steam or PlayStation 5 is the cost of nearly nine months of an Apple Arcade subscription, a service that gives people access to over 200 titles. Additionally, the Wheatflour Wonderland DLC is included for AA players at no additional cost, but players on other platforms have to pay $14.99 to access it.

Sunblink hasn’t announced City Town DLC pricing yet, but it may not matter. Many players are calling for a boycott of the game on all platforms, and those who aren’t calling for a total boycott have said that they will not give Sunblink any more money.

Some of this anger seems to be due to disappointment in the lack of substantial content in the Wheatflour Wonderland DLC, as well as game-breaking bugs that have reverted saves, force-stopped player progress in certain quests, and more. And some of this anger seems to stem solely from players feeling led on about City Town, whatever Sunblink’s intentions.

How Sunblink’s response fails its players

In her role as Chief Product Officer, Chelsea Howe represents Sunblink each time she posts in the Hello Kitty Island Adventure Discord, whether that’s a fair standard or not. Her response to players in the feedback thread about the City Town DLC update has prompted even more negative feedback, with some fans removing their positive reviews on Steam and replacing them with negative ones.

Howe’s apparent promise to be less transparent about the development process for City Town and other updates isn’t the way to regain player trust, nor is it an appropriate response to players voicing frustration about content being both delayed and—from some points of view—suddenly locked behind a paywall. Howe’s tone in her post is also quite flippant.

“Here’s what we’ve heard so far: People are disappointed that it’s a paid DLC because some felt it was advertised or implied to be part of the main game—we were VERY cautious in all of our Steam/PC/PS5 marketing to talk (and show) only content available on Friendship Island,” Howe wrote. “We very consciously never used images or descriptions that included Usahana or City Town. While we didn’t know for sure at the time if it would be free or paid, we wanted to leave the option open for either, and tried to be very cognizant that no one would buy the main game because, say, they saw Usahana on the Steam page.”

Players have taken issue with this because it implies that, at some point, the City Town DLC was intended to be a free update. Some posters have called this the “cozy game to corporate cash grab pipeline.”

In her post, Howe continued, “People are disappointed that it’s a paid DLC because they feel the main game was already expensive—at the end of the day, we hope that people feel the main game was worth the price, and that the DLC we release are also worth their prices. We are releasing free content updates as well, at no additional cost to players, and want to continue to have both free and paid additions to the game.”

Sunblink is a business and businesses have to make money to continue making their products. None of the HKIA players seem to be contesting that; rather, they are asking the developers to treat all players on all platforms the same. Their reasoning is that if an update is free for Apple Arcade players, whose monthly subscription is not sent exclusively to Sunblink, then that update should also be free for players who paid between $40 and $60 for the base game.

Not only does Howe fail to acknowledge players’ actual feedback in her post, but her promise of less transparency has alienated even those who didn’t have a negative reaction to the City Town DLC update.

Per posts from HKIA players on Reddit, this isn’t the first time Howe’s posts have been perceived as rude or dismissive. Last year, a huge swath of previously-active Discord members left the server, citing her posts as the reason behind their departure. Now, many players are questioning whether staying in the server is worth it if the developers aren’t planning to share as many updates or answer as many questions—something that previously set Sunblink apart as “one of the good ones.”