I'm basing my opinion on the fact that the development cycle is completely beyond what even indie studios have. As others have said, at some point, you need a finished product. You can continue to develop after that, but the project lead doesn't seem to know how to do that and continue to build upon that foundation. Scope creep, indeed.

This might not technically be a scam, but half a billion dollars for a decade of snail's-paced development and only alpha-ware to show for it at least begins to smell like one.

Plus, technology is developing faster than the dev is able to create. As it progresses, will the dev revise the scope to match the new tech? Based on the track record, I'm betting "yes," and this will never be finished in his lifetime.