As I've said a number of times, I think the problem is that Inno is caught in a loop of failure and shame rather than deliberately not doing work. They fail to hit a deadline, get depressed then decide to take time off until they feel better. Which of course makes them feel even worse.
Could be the case, but being transparent there would be a much better choice than jerking off lore-accurate orange rat penises in hopes that things will just fix themselves.
"Listen, it's no secret to all of you by now that I really fucked up my deadlines lately and I really have no excuse for that. I don't know how things will go from now on, but I want to do better and I'll try to do my best in general. I am very sorry for my incompetence and hopefully I'll improve in that regard."
It's really not that hard and people will only respect them more, because in that day and age where society is ruled by lies, truth only becomes that much more endearing.
Also, the reason why I'm not completely buying that Inno is just ashamed of their misgivings is because there's still no full mod support for the game. You see, if developers can't deliver - fans can. It's a fact. LT looks like a very moddable game and it
should be, yet it's not the case. What conclusion can we draw there?
Inno wants the whole control over the game to themselves. They don't want to be outshined by nobodies who are that much more hardworking or talented, because it'd hurt their own reputation, that's my take. And if it's not the case? Well, then Inno is just that much more incompetent, tone-deaf and honestly should hand over the project to someone more capable and passionate.