Well, we all posted our games here on Itch and submitted to an Itch Game Jam, so IF something like that would happen, maybe the guys from the site could help us out? I know that the jams and creators are independent and the Itch staff has little to do with what shenanigans people might do here, but I think having the history of who posted the games and when they were posted could prove helpful in dire situations... I mean, yes they could release games that are something like ours, just as our games probably have a lot in common with other games, and that could happen without any consequences. But if they publish any of our games just as how they are right now, I don't think they could get away with it - our games are released on our own Itch pages, they are our "products". Well, I know little about this kind of stuff, but I'm sure we could do something about that, if that happens.
And yes, I know this is just speculation, I just find it unrespectful, or at least strange, that the publisher has remained silent for so long - no "hurry ups" when the deadline was coming, no "thank yous" when the jam was over and everyone posted their games, no "hold ons" when the results should have been revealed, and no "sorries" now that we are confused about what is going on. Maybe they even forgot about the jam they created?