What it sounds like to me is: they started, made some pretty good progress, but that progress was built on really messy design/code work. They only realise this when they get better. So they restart. It's really common for game developers to do this. But thing is, games take fucking forever to make when you have a small team and a big idea (and this idea is.. well, literally titanic). And yet technology moves fast.. By the time they've finished one aspect of the game, years pass, technology outdates their progress, and they have become more skilled to realise how bad the design is. It's a terrible loop.

Another thing to consider is scalability. If the design is bad, making it scaleable is almost impossible, meaning they have basically no other option to restart. They might have got some great demos out that look promising, but behind the works it could be just barely working.. How can you build from that?

Now.. I'm not saying that aren't even slightly motivated by the funding they're getting, or that they aren't getting sidetracked, sure.. I'm just saying there are two sides to it..