Sorry to burst your bubble... If this were the case he could have said he put it on hold.
He has clearly mentioned he is stopping.
I don't mean to sound negative... just don't want to get hopes up
I get you there, though even if he did mention he still wanted to pick it up at some point, I wouldn't get my expectations up, nor giving it up completely in my head.
You often see devs promising to get back to a on-hold project only to never return, while others come literally out of the blue resurrecting an abandoned one. I understand his decision to not let anyone's hopes up with false promises (bold decision aswell since his higher tier will drop users fast), though I wouldn't bet entirely on his non-return for the reasons I mentioned above, anything can change and words are never so final.
Though in the end, one should better be going his way and if/whenever this game will pop-up again as updated, at least that will be a pleasant surprise for sure.
