I think they came to the wrong conclusion. Yes those games were cheaper, but really they were just good, and mostly finished at launch. Didn’t feel like we were nickle and dimed for more DLC or season passes or mtxs, we got whole games that were fun.
All the big “AAA blockbuster” games anymore are reskinned, half finished versions of the last version, and the only thing they’ve put a ton of time into is analyzing how to get addicts hooked and spending the maximum amount on micro transactions.