Licensed sets saved them from bankruptcy, and now that they're healthily profitable again they've been releasing more "classic" sets like the Lego City, Lego Creator (and Creator Advanced), and Technics sets.

As someone who's been into Lego for life, and as a middle-aged parent who still regularly buys sets to build myself independent of the sets I buy for my kids, I'm more than happy for them to crank out the licensed sets (which I ignore) in exchange for them to still be here making those Creator/Technics ones for me.