With games, though, one successful game or franchise rarely guarantees additional successful games or franchises. In some ways it's "catching lightning in a bottle", and very difficult to repeat, even if you have the same inputs (designers, programmers, funding).
From what I've heard, the game industry is notorious for laying a lot of the staff off after a game project before they even know if the game is successful or not. Then they might bring those people back for a sequel if they are still available when they start making it.
So on top of all the known issues, one can be let go at any time.
I think in our oncoming age of batteries that this expression could have new meaning.
A great game or movie can make a ton of money. But a great tech company can make 2-3 orders of magnitude more.
Maybe the lesson is that multiple blockbuster models interfere with each other when combined into one venture? It seems kind of like how you can’t make an infinite chain of hypervisors.