I know it's easy for me to say, but I think he should focus more on the bright side. Look at
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, switch to "All", do an aproximation, and you'll get pretty much straight and relatively steep line. Now think what it means, it's the result of him doing what he likes and giving it out to everyone for free. Nobody has to pay him anything. And yet there are 1,5k people who do, because they want to (or are terribly impatient, but let's be optimistic and assume it's the former). It's great success by my standards, and something to be proud of. Could it be even better and does he deserve more? Possibly and yes. But it's not like current state is exactly depressing.
The only real bright side is that the frequency of leaks indicates his game is popular enough to be a priority target, though I'm not even sure that counts as a bright side. Sure, it means his game is getting attention even outside the people willing and/or capable of paying for it, but it also serves as a source of diminished possible income. He could have had those people paying for it if there was no leak.
Sure, he makes 10k off of development, but that doesn't actually get very far once you take into account any expenses the money goes toward, the amount Patreon takes out of it, or any taxes taken out of it by the United States federal government or the state of Texas before he gets it as profit. I'm actually not even sure what the tax situation even is over in Texas, I only know my own area and the one I used to live in before this one.
He is being successful despite all of the above and, I agree, it should be something to be proud of. In fact, it makes me proud to be supporting him that he's so successful. I see no greater honor as an artist myself, a musician to be exact, other than military or first responder service, than assisting a fellow artist to fund their art, and make no mistake, writing is an art form, the art of the written word.
As for that last part, if you mean the game being pirated, AKA stolen, is not dpressing, you'd be wrong, though you would also be wrong if talking about the game since it does have its depressing moments among many others in this emotional roller coaster that serve to make it the great game it is. Yeah, witnessing an in progress theft of your things and being unable to do anything to stop it is indeed depressing.