Well yes and no. I can think of a couple of recent VNs where the dev or devs realized that it could take 12-18 months for their VN to get enough traction. They stayed the course and have a successful and profitable VN. This VN has been out since September 2021, so 9 months more or less. It's an excellent VN with many high quality aspects to recommend it. It has been gathering an ever larger following, but as yet limited patronage. Patron support follows behind popularity.
There's nothing wrong with producing a VN with a monetary goal, as long as the producer is realistic about the timeframe to start to generate substantial support. My guess is that this one would have started to turn the corner in 4-6 more months. It's a really high quality product, it just takes time to be "discovered'.
Sad really. Abandoning this VN, for this reason, will hang like a shadow over whatever he produces next.
Anyway really sad to see this outcome. Really sad.