This is a really nice write-up of the highs and lows of launching an indie game. It resonates with me as I often dream of locking myself away for 6-12 months to crack out an indie title. I dream of fame and fortune, but the sad truth is thatost do not break even. One day when I can "retire", I'll just publish games for fun...
It seems to me that their absolutely greatest mistake was releasing the demo. It ate up all the reviewers and hype before the product was for sale.
I played an early demo (on Itch.io I believe?) and I was genuinely impressed to see an attempt to transform platformer mechanics into VR in a way that genuinely made use of the medium.
I look forward to trying this out next time I'm in a space slightly bigger than the one I have at home ;-)