2- Founders leaving. Yes, Kyle and Michael left the ship on "Mutual" agreement. I personally like to think it was because, they did not want to change the style of the game, and thus, "threw toys out of pram" and quit. PRetty sure this is how it actually went down. The project is far better off without them.
And I think they just wanted to distance themselves from this failure. Like what happens next is not their fault. Period.