Don't be afraid! We still want to make things work! But it's put a pretty bad taste that you had to make a post like this and try to put us in a bad light :(
Hi! A "merge" feels like a commitment for us. Lovecraft Locker is only our first game and the last of its kind given this controversy. A "merge" ultimately means that for our future games, HotpinkGames will have a say about it, a share of profits, etc despite our liking and interests since there's going to be a legally binding contract to it.
I don't want to sound rude, but we'd like to make games ourselves. We made Lovecraft Locker to its current state with only ourselves as you can see. We only want to focus on making games, without any other process like who will approve what, or who will approve this. We like to experiment, and like to do things quickly. Overall, we believe our creative potential is at its highest when we are alone.
As we've said privately, we love your work effort and ideas that you bring to the table. You know we wouldn't be holding you back, so why say there here? Plus you say you made it only yourselves, yet you've clearly used others ideas! Not only from our game, but the many comments and suggestions our community has made! I think you can see from our catalogue we love experiments too and only wish to further the lewd games industry with better standards.
Without knowing the full story and only going by what was posted here and what you said in other posts. There is one thing that you are skimming over...
The take down request.
You say making this post puts you in a bad light, but the flip side to that coin is Strange Girl not saying anything and suddenly going dark because Itch took the game down. Thus putting them in an even worse light (and potentially ruining all future good will as I've seen other creators lose all will with their fans for going dark on a project thanks to similar issues)
Honestly making this post was the best option as it tells us why the game might disappear.
However your group putting in the request is quite poor form. At the start yes the game was very much a copy of your original, but it very quickly gained more features than your game had (levels, unlocking new positions, and recently gaining different types of lockers) and by this point is different enough that it is an homage more than a copy.
With you recently making Tentacle Locker 2 it actually comes off more as you or a member of your team panicking about competition and aiming to shut down the competition instead of learning from each other.
Competition in games can only improve the end product while blind copying (most phone games) or destroying your competition (AAA publisher that will go un-named to not burn future bridges) will only cause stagnation and a worse end product.
Look, I've played your original, loved it, played your recent sequel and I can see how it could grow. But I could also see the route this game was taking. There exists room for both, and while both teams merging could be cool, its not the only route.
Being competitors would help improve both games as you aim to cover weaknesses and flaws in the other ones game. Similarly collaborating would also improve both games as those flaws would start to get ironed out quicker in both.
Ultimately I hope that all of this works out and both games can build and grow along side each other.