testing how lazy he can be without losing income has been his MO for years now. compare the work he put into the project in the first couple years to now and it's a night and day difference.
Or, maybe he's streaming shorter because he has deadlines to meet now. And as someone who used to be a regular in DC's streams in the early years, the streams really weren't that much more productive.
That being said, it's known that DC is lazy, and that he definitely cares about his Patreon income. So it isn't a reach to assume he tries to balance those two contradicting factors in his work ethic. I don't know if his streams being shorter in the same timespan as trying to release partial tech-updates is a good indicator of laziness though..