For those in the deep mines of the Deltarune fandom, the response to the game’s latest chapter has been a bit odd. Despite Chapter 5 hitting a stunning 291,816 peak concurrent player count on Steam and receiving critical praise for its excellent characters and emotional moments, some deep-in-the-weeds diehards were disappointed over two main points.

The first was that, according to some, the game didn’t move the overarching plot forward, mostly focusing on a one-off adventure that didn’t answer existing questions. The other is that the chapter didn’t play into existing fan theories. These theories are divisive: Some members of the fandom create long video essays analyzing every small detail, while others view these speculations as hallucinatory fan fiction which is overly obsessed with characters who have never been shown on screen (i.e., Gaster).

In the latest Deltarune newsletter, developer Toby Fox very politely addressed both of these criticisms. First, he alluded to the game’s pacing, saying that with the latest chapter, “we completed the last of the necessary setup for Chapter 6 and 7.” From now on, “there are no more wacky silly adventures, and you will begin to see the results of the setup that has been made so far.”

He said that Chapter 6 is a shorter, straightforward chapter that focuses on one aspect of the story, and because of that, not every question will be answered. He ominously added that “one thing will be clarified, whether you’re ready or not.” Fox also directly addressed criticisms about Chapter 5's pacing and said that “by the end of Chapter 7 I’m 100% sure you’ll understand why I feel confident about the way I’m telling this story. Don’t worry about the pacing until it’s over!”

As for fan theories, he said, “Personally, I really don’t read or watch theories. That’s because I already know what my game is.” He clarified that he thinks it’s amazing that people contemplate the game so much and that “thinking about this game can be just as much of the experience as playing it.” He points out that “the speculative art, stories, and theories that you come up with while the game is still ongoing will forever be special, because this is the only time such things can EVER be created.”

However, he goes on to clarify that when it comes to fan theories, “sometimes you don’t have all the information, or I had a different expectation about how certain info would be interpreted or combined.” He says that “while I think it’s good to keep an open mind as to what will ultimately happen, I wanna say that you guys should keep having as much fun as you can.” Fox also reiterated that he believes Chapter 6 will be out in 2027, and that it will be another standalone release.

While Fox is incredibly civil and makes it clear that he likes that people are speculating so much on his game, he also affirms that he is telling his own story and that fans should go in with as few preconceived notions as possible. A bit surprisingly, the response to the newsletter has been very even-handed, with fans happy about how he balances respecting the community’s love of theorizing while making it clear he’s still going to tell his own story. Many liked how he directly addressed the pacing concerns, and have decided they should, in fact, trust the guy who has made deeply beloved video games.

It also helps that Fox included a very good anecdote about how Flowery’s nonsense phrase “Jarona” stems from random stuff his older brother said to him one time while acting like an anime character. Never change, Toby.