No offense, but leaking something generates more exposure. Without people leaking your game I highly doubt you would have half the patreon count you have right now. I dont buy the piracy is bad take from triple A studios (just see project red and elder ring) and neither do I do it for patreon games.
I was a patreon for over a year and I still would be if you didn't try to push people into the super expensive tiers. I as a subscriber do not feel valued when there is exclusive content I will never have access to. Lets say your game takes a year to finish; why would I as a supporter pay 10 bucks per month and yet be excluded from the content in the end?
It sure does generate more exposure, that's why I already publish it for free with a delay in the first place. In this case, it's about respecting early access. If it gets leaked right away, why would anyone sub to begin with, knowing the biggest perk of my tiers is getting the update a bit earlier (sure, some do it because they want to support the project, but is that even a majority?)
I'm not sure how I push people into expensive tiers? You can totally enjoy the game without the extra scenes, I always make sure of that. Also, why would you "never have access" to it? You could just sub once when the game is done and get all the scenes + HC1&2 with all the extra scenes, or you could do it once every six months? Or simply skip a few updates, then pay once and get all the updates with the extra scenes at no extra cost. That's the idea behind the tier, to allow for flexibility. I also give out the update to people who've helped me a lot in various ways, as a thank you. Another thing is, without the tier being more expensive, it's high likely it'd get leaked in the end.
People need to understand I'm not saving for a ferrari, I'm saving so I can upgrade all the graphics in the game. By leaking the update, they're not some kind of Robin Hood stealing from the rich to give to the poor, since everything is going to be free either way, they're just delaying they game being improved on (and motivation's taking a hit too, but that's not what's important here.)
And now what? Instead of waiting a month for Update 6, they have to wait a month for Update 7. Is it really such an improvement?
(I know this is a pirate site btw, I just thought I'd say this. I won't try to take action or anything. And since the leaker always make sure to PM a moderator so as to remain anonymous, it's the only way I may be able to get to them.)