The biggest problem with "hustle culture" is that they praise each others effort rather than results. Like in this case, 10 failed games is a lot of effort but

The biggest problem with "hustle culture" is that they praise each others effort rather than results. Like in this case, 10 failed games is a lot of effort but aren't good results. And if you look at the reviews and where he got traffic on this game they mostly come from other gamedev communities, meaning he sold to other developer hustlers interested in his journey rather than to real users. At this stage what he needs to do is take a step back, stop seeking praise from other developers and instead focus on making a quality game he thinks users actually would want to play. Releasing games you know will fail doesn't teach you much, especially if it is your tenth one. Or he can pivot to becoming a gamedev influencer selling tutorials or monetizing views, if that is what he wants he is on the right track.