Why make a new game when you can make money from micro transactions in your current one.

You are being facetious, but the question demands an answer: there IS no good reason for investors. It’s very likely Rockstart genuinely would not have made as much money developing new properties as they did exploiting their established ones. And if they did, it would have been a gamble vs a virtual sure thing.

The demands of capital are not compatible with art. These companies don’t serve our needs, they exploit our desires. Don’t buy art from corporations, buy it from artists.