Very few people truly expect AWAM to continue for another 40 years. I know I don't but it's still the case that 35-40 years is currently how long it would take for the story to finish at the rate L&P has chosen to develop it. Years ago I thought I could detect the signs of probable abandonment, based on my experience of other games BUT although it became slower & slower, it carried on.
Many suggestions, some constructive & practical, some not so much, have been made over the years, to which L&P is impervious. Commitments have been announced by the Dev with the results being to slow things down, time & again. I know that there are many fans who deplore any comments that aren't wholly supportive or full of gratitude to the Dev. They see them as a negativity, which somehow, (via witchcraft, or the power of suggestion perhaps?), might cause L&P to stop. Nothing said in these comment threads will do that, although they could provide handy fake reasons for the eventual abandonment.
I think we know him well enough by now to understand that he'll stop when he's good & ready & that he couldn't care less what any pirate says, so long as he can cheerfully & with a decent income, remain in his comfort zone. There's no way to predict anything about when AWAM will end but it won't last another 40 years. I get the impression that the Dev is in his mid-30s & we know AWAM is his pension plan, because he's said as much, so it's anybody's guess. I do think that there is evidence that he no longer feels especially motivated & maybe doesn't even enjoy the creative process any more, otherwise AWAM wouldn't have deteriorated to the level of an average teen porn game, of which the forum is already full.
Ultimately I can only echo the words I've heard since 2018, i.e. "his game, his choices." Everything is going according to plan.
