Yeah this is because (if we limit the scope to multiplayer games), the gaming world is sooooooo used to basically minor niche hit or mediocre games that are not actually that fun and engaging that when an /actual/ hit comes along, everyone’s brain explodes.

A decade or two ago you would actually fairly commonly have multiplayer games that were actually hits, actually had broad appeal, that had actual continuous sustained growth from actual organic recommendations.

That hasn’t happened in such a long time that its now practically inconceivable.

In the last roughly 5 years, barring an occasional indie hit with actual staying power, Multiplayer games have been so lackluster, flawed, exploitative or all of those combined for so long, promoted by giant marketing campaigns and hype machines, that everyone has just gotten used to new game come out, its not that great, but NEXT GAME SOON!!!, buy, rinse, repeat.

An actually good multiplayer game with wide, broad appeal is now so nearly totally unimaginable to the basically intelligencia and managers and CEOs of the video game world that the very language of describing video game popularity has morphed to accommodate the expectation of expensive mediocre garbage that is thrown away when the next flashy bauble comes along.