Yep. I was shocked at first since this one seemed to be going strong, with no hint that it was about to go down the drain. But those of us that have been here awhile can think of a long list of very good and sometimes great games that were abandoned either in their prime, or just when they were starting to get good:
Our Fate, Babysitters, Connected, Reluctant Archon, Reincarnotica, Dr. Amana, Estate Dominate, Primal Instinct, Elysion, Apartment 69, Apartment 96, The Inheritance, Outbreak, Family Man, Galaxy, Vengeance, Oath of Loyalty.
Unfortunately, for every very reliable and consistent dev like Caribdis, Philly, DPC, Runey, Hopes, Perverteer, Rec, DanielsK, Killer7, NeverLucky, or LikesBlondes, there are a ton of devs that do a great job building a fanbase and then all of a sudden just decide one day it's not worth it anymore, and take the money and run, or even worse BS the fans indefinately until their game gets marked abandoned anyway.
A.O.A Academy is just one more failed game to put on the memorial bonfire. It is a shame, just like all the others.
We can all speculate forever, but the suddenness and the total deletion of everything makes me think number one some sort of mental breakdown or burnout where TLG just said screw it, I am done in a rather self-destructive manner, rather than just fade away or take a long break like most other devs, or like others have said maybe sudden family pressure to stop development. We will never know.
