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estimates their earnings at 1-4k a month. With two people developing and splitting that it's far from enough money to live on so they probably do this part time. If you can only work on a thing part time while still needing to have a full time job of course development is going to be a lot slower than someone making a few hundred thousand dollars a year and can work on the game full time. More money also allows you to purchase much better hardware to speed up rendering a lot. Development progress goes from red to black by way of green.
Research and studies have shown...(the coomer brain during post nut clarity) that new devs need to have fast(er) release times in the beginning. They have to build an audience and support as much as possible in the early days before settling in to the usual 6-12 month time frame that older games have. The best chance a dev has to gather up that sweet patreon coin and make a name for themselves before disappearing into the ocean of AVN developers is to strike early and strike hard and be consistent.
Proven (sort of) method of success on F95 for new devs: high level of engagement (including F95), first few updates should be in the 3-month range, and have very good renders, if not a good story. But obtaining a decent native English translator is a must. Oh and at least one character with big tits. This is all science.
Source: trust me bro
Only when an appropriate level is reached can dev begin to ease off. Usually 1 1/2 year is enough to determine the steady trajectory of a game. If dev has appropriate levels of financial support then they can fuck off from F95. After a few months of reading their game thread, they will hate this place with a burning passion anyway.
Summer Heat has done fairly well in the categories above
I believe next episode is not far off, so this development time is still ok. 600+ patreons in first year is not too bad either. Still just a tad early to slip past the 5 month interval, but if this next episode kicks ass then they should be in the clear. They have already almost cracked the top 20 rank on F95. Doing well.