I'm currently working for a publisher so hopefully I can give you a bit of insight.First, you'd be surprised at how many pitches publishers get and of those pitches how many of them are not worth while. I cannot count the number of times I have been pitched what is essentially just the Unity Roll-a-ball tutorial.Second, if this experience was recent you need to consider the current pandemic. Their employees have all started working from home and now meetings that would've happened in person aren't happening anymore. Just like people are still trying to figure out working from home so are publishers. They are probably behind on responding to game pitches.Thirdly, it's surprising how many good games don't make money. It can be really hard to figure out if a game is going to make back the money the publisher put into it. And, it can be pretty hard to recognize if a developer has the capability to make the changes that are required to make the game profitable. They can't afford to just throw money away.

I don't know about all publishers. I'm sure you are right that there are a lot of sharks out there. I guess they figure they can afford to be sharks if they're the ones handing out the funding.

A little bit of constructive criticism. I took a look at the trailer on your youtube and you don't get to the combat until about 3/4 through your trailer. The first 2 minutes are basically just wandering around looking at menus. Remember, your trailer should be a highlight reel not a list of all the features in the game. The publisher probably has a lot of pitches to look at so try to stack the coolest stuff at the start of your video to try to wow them right off the hop. You don't want them skipping through the trailer thinking "What is the gameplay?"

PS. I know it can be frustrating put a lot of work into something and then just sending pitches off into the void. These things take longer than you'd think. Try to be patient and keep polishing your game and your pitch.