The creators of Cult of the Lamb mentioned this in an interview with SmartCompany. They said that the company surprised with its generosity — publishers often try to spend as little as possible, while Devolver Digital offered them $ 500 thousand instead of the requested $ 300 thousand.
The Massive Monster studio decided not to spend all the money at once and postponed part of the support for the game for nine months. The developers also wanted to keep some funds in reserve in case Cult of the Lamb fails.