Episodic horror-mystery visual novel Scarlet Hollow’s developer, Black Tabby Studio, surprised fans with the release of an expansion to the game’s fifth episode on July 29, 2026. The expansion, known as “the Rumors update,” adds over 60,000 words of content to Episode 5, which originally released on February 13, 2026.
In a post shared on social media, Black Tabby Games confirmed that the Rumors update is planned to be the last major content addition before the release of Chapters 6 and 7, which will conclude the game’s story. Content additions and changes were made primarily to Episode 5, but there were also some minor updates to Episodes 2, 3, and 4. Notably, most of the new content is quite spoiler-heavy – the post describing the update on Steam consists almost entirely of black spoiler bars.
In addition to the Rumors update, a new Supporter Pack DLC was released on Steam, containing over 80 music tracks from the game and over 85 wallpapers. To celebrate the update, both Scarlet Hollow and its Collector’s Edition, which includes the Supporter Pack, are on sale on Steam, with the base game currently costing $18.74 and the Collector’s Edition $25.86. A bundle featuring Scarlet Hollow and fellow Black Tabby title Slay the Princess is also currently available for purchase.
Scarlet Hollow tells the story of a player-created protagonist visiting the small town of Scarlet Hollow, North Carolina, for the funeral of their estranged aunt. They are quickly drawn into the town’s secrets, mysteries, and intrigue surrounding the wealthy Scarlet family, bizarre creatures, strange deaths, and more. Scarlet Hollow, which first debuted in Early Access in 2021, has received praise for its writing and deep choice-based gameplay. Players report playing through the game’s currently released five chapters multiple times and still finding new scenes that they had not previously encountered.
A release date for the final chapters of Scarlet Hollow has not been confirmed, but the developers are working hard on the game’s conclusion. Console ports of the game, which is currently available only for PC, are also in consideration. Black Tabby Games has also hinted that they have more exciting projects planned for the future. For future updates, stay tuned to GameObserver.
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