The game was topping that sex game chart years ago before any of that newer content. That it's still there today is likely more a testament to just how wildly successful it was at the time helped by being one of the only daz and non-japanese based sex game options on the platform, and the fact it's sales run dates back to June 2017 (not that being a good sex game didn't have a lot to do with that too, of course). I don't know how or if we can even look up that specified by year sales information though.
There is also a difference between something being asked for and supported by "a notable amount of different people", and a very vocal subsection minority of people who can be consistently loud enough to make something appear a lot more of the former then it really is. Heck...this message board might as well be a breeding ground for general examples of that
. That said, I'd be curious to see the actual total #'s of those poll results in favor of adding gay content.
Lastly, I never claimed the entire product was "ruined". Quite the opposite multiple times here actually in the past. The core playthrough up until v13 or what not would still be my #1 game recommendation to people who haven't played through it before. But to those that have...yeah. There is a legit reasoning in my book behind why you see so many pop back in, play one of the latter updates, and come away with the same negative outlook of that experience.