It's not actually a prequel, it's literally the first game. SG is a continuation of the same universe with enough time having passed that it's not a direct sequel. WiaB's thread is dated 6 months earlier than SG. SG has been developed more as it is the more popular game. Due to the game having had an initial co-dev (Regium) who stopped developing it, SG required a lot more attention for Ocean to bring it back in line with his own aesthetic ...and that's historically where people's opinions on Ocean start getting heated. He supplied Regium with the script to SG, and when Regium left he gave the game back to Ocean. Suddenly Ocean had two Patreon accounts and two unfinished games. Ocean's first chapter as solo dev was Ch3 I think, and then he had to rework the earlier chapters to make the look consistent. WiaB looked inconsistent as Ocean got better, so he decided to rework that even though it had gotten to CH6, but because it was his first, he decided to start right from the start for a whole new framework.
I personally think he's done marvellously well to keep both active, and moving as fast as they did. I consider SG to have really started from the CH3 release in this sense, because Ocean has replaced everything that existed from the older dev (a sensible way to avoid legal issues when money is involved), so the game's first release for me was Jan 2021. If you consider than in that time Ocean has made 4.5 chapters of this game because of the complete rework (as obviously not all of his first attempt at ch3 was reworked), Ocean has delivered more than a full chapter per year. WiaB has been a bit slower in dev, because Ocean decided to start over, but it was Nov 2021 that the current version was started, so a chapter a year.
I know you didn't ask for all this, it's just there's a lot of people asking questions like this who haven't read the whole thread (and honestly who would unless they're a masochist?) So this is more a general response triggered by that one word 'prequel' which isn't quite right
![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
WiaB is the first movement of the composition, SG is the second, and we're yet to see how the themes will be echoed through the symphony. The dual development of two games might frustrate people who imagine they could get two chapters a year of SG instead of one, but it means Ocean can raise the suspense in both games.
In an ideal world I'd love to see them as one game where the chapters alternate, like some of the books I've read. We get the suspense the way Ocean intended, someone who plays maybe three seasons of SG in the future before they know about WiaB will not be surprised by some of the plot of WiaB. The more Ocean reveals about WiaB in SG, the less impact some of WiaB's decisions will make to the player (ie you'll make decisions because you know some of the consequences down the track).