What happened is the dev overpromised and then when he didn't deliver he was endlessly attacked and harassed by the entitled incels that skulk around these forums. Enough to push anyone away.
He doesn't give a shit about anything anyone says here, unless you critique his art. He just replies with 'thinking face' emojis and then says he's working on getting better. Dude has said three words total in six months.
There has been 10 minutes of content updated in just over 2 years. The MC of the game hasn't been seen in about 3 years.
I would give more credence to the whole 'overpromised and then harassed' claim if not for his entire update history. He has been posting preview photos for years that never made it into the game. He's redesigned it about 4 times. He used to constantly say the game would be updated on a specific date and then miss it by weeks or months.
His discord is a shitshow. People have offered to help him with it repeatedly and he always says no.
I'm sure there are plenty of devs you could argue the fans pushed away but this ain't one of them.