It will be better to give a choice imo, then it will be either a lesbian scene with sophia's sister or another scene involving dylan
Also you are right
Sidelining him is not possible now but that is a good thing
The issue with giving a choice is that would create near double the required content. One version with Dylan, and one without. That doesn't even get into the other routes.
I think Ginger's estimate of 2027 is too hopeful too.
The next update is meant to be the Museum date. That'll take us the rest of 2025, and maybe January 2026.
So assuming the ranch day starts development sometime around January/February 2026, at the current rate LP is going at, the ranch day with Dylan + No Dylan would probably take until 2028 or even 2029 to be complete.
But as has been said, it's not really feasible to not take Dylan, because LP cannot afford to sideline the games defacto MC for years.
So LP is in a bad situation either way. He either sidelines Dylan and makes people mad, or he spends the next 3-5 years to make a single day's worth of content.
This game has slowly killed itself under so much bloat. LP just can't help himself and keep adding more of it. Like those super morbidly obese people who can't get out of bed, yet spend the whole day eating. LP is that, but for game development.