Appreciate your concern for the players, and you're very right to be wary after how I had to conclude ATU. There were a lot of issues even I had as an inexperienced developer while working on ATU that I wish I had planned out and designed better in its conception phase but was too late to address without doing a whole rework.
As development went on, it became clear the project’s scope and structure weren’t sustainable long term. Continuing would have meant years of additional work which, after nearly a decade on a single project, wasn’t a responsible or realistic path forward. I chose to conclude it rather than let it stagnate indefinitely.
I understand people really loved the potential it had and wish it could have been what I envisioned but the reality was, it was my first big project, I didn't plan out the scope, the story was an ongoing convoluted mess, the art style was hard to mimic so I couldn't hire any artistic help, it was difficult.
Sugar Service is what I wish ATU was if I had the 10 years of game dev experience I gained from ATU. I took everything that I did wrong in ATU and learnt from it. I've added features and systems that I wish I had but didn't know was possible, I made sure I could introduce, develop, and conclude character storylines in a realistic but meaningful timeframe. And I'm confident enough in my ability and the product I've created thus far to say that Sugar Service far surpasses the quality, polish, game design, and scope management than ATU ever could.
I genuinely love developing this game, which wasn't something I could say for ATU for most of it's lifespan. I enjoy building it, expanding the characters, and delivering complete storylines in a way that’s manageable and consistent, something ATU heavily struggled with.
If you've played the game, thank you for trying it out, a lot of people love it and they're the ones that keep the project not only going but thriving way past ATU ever did!