various developers have been digging into his code

This just feels like bandwagoning. I'm a dev with tons of years of experience and I'm sure I could get some views of I jump on the train and pull up some sloppy code. But sloppy code doesn't make something unreleasable, in fact, the browser or app you're using to read this is guaranteed to have a ton of sloppy code.

I think the main explanation is that he's not working on it actively. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he's not the one writing the code. Maybe he is, idk.

I'm merely pointing to the huge influx of reviews since the drama started on a game that claims to have been launched 7 years ago on Steam. My understanding is that the game has been stalled for years, so why would it get so many reviews now if it's not review bombing?

I'm guessing that's where the "review bombing" claim is coming from, not from games published by the publisher he was working with.

He said they had been review bombed, in the affirmative

He has a history of exaggerating and not doing proper research. I'm looking to understand why he said what he did, and my explanation makes sense to me. He probably saw a bunch on his game and a few on the publisher's other games and jumped to conclusions, which is exactly what happened with SKG.

it’s getting really weird

Then I'll clarify my motivations here. I hate the internet culture of jumping down someone's throat the moment they make an unpopular statement. They go through their history and dig up random dirt, much of which is exaggerated or even blatant lies, just to smear them to ruin their reputation.

I absolutely hate that, and it contributes to the misinformation problems we have today. We should hold ourselves to a higher standard and embrace the concept of "innocent until proven guilty."

So in cases like this where there are a lot of emotions, it's especially important to look for innocent explanations before assuming guilt. YouTubers and streamers will absolutely jump on the bandwagon to get views, assuming one of the extremes because that gets views. We, as viewers, have the obligation to take a step back and look for motivations to suss out what is true from what's likely sensationalized.

I'm providing an alternate perspective to hopefully encourage others to take that step back and consider that there may be more to the story. It costs me nothing other than some time (which I'm usually spending on the toilet, let's be honest), and hopefully it helps preserve a little of what I love about the internet: open discourse where facts rule the day. That seems to be dying, so I do what I can to preserve it.

admittedly based on ignorance

Well yeah, I'm not going to claim something is true unless I can back it up, and when I can, I usually link that evidence. I want others to follow suit and actually back up their claims instead of regurgitating what someone else said just because it aligns with their opinions. Facts should rule the day, not feels, and that's what I'm challenging here.

I don't have a strong opinion WRT Pirate Software. I don't watch his content, I don't buy his games, and I don't care what orgs he is involved with. I do care a lot about misinformation and brigading, and that seems to be happening in this case.

If you provide sources, I'm happy to review them so better informed. I've done that with other commenters, and I think that process has been helpful for everyone.