People complaining have unrealistic expectations of how software development works. These same people complaining who say the developers have taken the money and ran, are actually projecting themselves. This is what the people complaining would do if they are developers.

There was a guy some months ago, that called himself a software developer because he made some mom-&-pop games with Construct 2 with subpar amateur graphics calling out IGS for their slow development. I facepalmed myself, because he compared his 'fast paced' development on the same wavelength as professional commercial development.

There was another guy who compared software development with building construction. He said that IGS should solely focus on content creation and fix bugs when everything else is done. In his knowledge of building construction, it's okay to keep building on top of problems, than to fix those problems for stability. Imagine that in a real life situation. That building will collapse before it finishes.

There was another bunch of people who called IGS lazy because they aren't creating the content the complainers want, REGARDLESS of all of the updates IGS already made to the game. They expect the developers to unrealistically publish the game in full within 6 months to a year.

A lot of these people think of software development on the same wavelength as production line work at a factory. That's not how software development works at all. More people =/= faster development. Too many programmers = too many ideas clashing, too long to learn the structure, more opportunity for bugs to reappear in a different format. The sweet spot for software development is 3 to 15 people, depending on the scope of the project. IGS has 11.

So at the end of the day, from the people complaining, it doesn't matter what IGS has produced. It doesn't matter the 29 updates in the last 16 months. It doesn't matter the active opt-in beta testing/development that has been happening constantly. It doesn't matter that IGS actually fixes things, optimises code, updating their engine, etc. To the people complaining, it ONLY matters that IGS work 24/7, because somehow IGS are robots who don't need rest, food, breaks, fun, and good health. IGS is here only to serve the complainers.

DEVELOPMENTAL TIMES AS REFERENCE POINTS
- Star Wars Squadrons: about 3 years
- Mass Effect 1: ~4 years
- Sims 2: about 4 years
- Kenshi: 12 years total, 5 years in Early Access
- Rimworld: 5 years in Early Access
- Minecraft Dungeons: about 5 years
- Fallout 3: about 4 years with Bethesda, +2 years with Interplay
- Don't Starve: about 3 years
- Astroneer: ~3 years in Early Access
- Diablo 3: ~10 years
- Team Fortress 2: ~9 years
- Owlboy: ~10 years
- Valheim: Early Access for 16 months so far

^Clearly by the developmental standards of everyone complaining, all of these companies and their games, especially the games in bold are excellent examples of developmental failures. Yet, more than half of these games have become major successes with awesome content.

The same people complaining about Valheim, complains how V Rising has become, complained how Kenshi has turned out, etc, etc, etc. The unfortunate fact is that there is too much misinformation and entitlement.

TL, DR: If there were very little updates in the last 16 months, I would agree with the complainers, but the game received major updates since. So the complainers are twisting reality to suit their rhetoric, because the things they want surpass the reasonable development given the time.