I was initially interested in the original, but the studio’s transphobic, misogynist, and homophobic “jokes” both within their games and their communities pretty quickly dissuaded me.

I was not aware of that. I'm not the biggest fan of the Build engine, so I was never anything more than barely aware that the game exists. I've skimmed over https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_Fury#Controversy a bit after your comment. I agree with you. Had I've been initially interested in the original, such "jokes" would have put me off as well.

it sounds like this has a new team behind it, so possibly disregard the above

The successor is done by a different studio (Slipgate Ironworks, who are also doing the RTS Tempest Rising). The original team (Voidpoint) works on the expansion for the first game. I hope Slipgate isn't using Voidpoint's "joke" template.