With the update changes.. does that mean the updates will be shorter again? Instead of doing chapters, just cutting episodes into parts?
It might not necessarily be shorter updates but probably. Another reason for not calling them chapters anymore is that they're less pressured to essentially "wrap up" each chapter with an open-ended ending and instead could just make cut off points where they feel satisfied.
It could be a way of them being able to stick to self-imposed deadlines like, "we want to put out an update every 6 months so we'll reach x amount of renders and stop there or we'll keep working on it until this time then just start testing" without having to worry about the extra work that comes with the different renders, story boarding, dialogue, etc. for the endings of "chapters".
Might result in less content, might not. I'm just guessing the change is for them to make the process more streamlined since when the game is complete, no one will really care about individual chapter endings and more about the overall plot. It looks like they're still experimenting on what works for them. You see small "start ups" pivot all the time. They put something out, receive feedback, then make a structural change to their plans going forward.
It looks like they've had that approach from the very beginning and it's not a problem with the product since a decent amount of people are still following it. Kind of feels like the update after ch. 5 will determine whether they're actually optimizing anything or are just spinning their wheels. Still, I can sympathize. It's not fun to have to keep pivoting so often even after investing so much time into a project/business. It must feel pretty frustrating.
From what I've experienced, it usually turns out that the plans and managing said plans aren't the problem. It's just a matter of executing on those plans. Just do it.