Totally, but also excited to see what ex-blizzard creatives at Frost Giant Studios and their upcoming RTS Stormgate will bring. Happy to see the talent reform elsewhere.
Sometimes it's not that they lost the touch or that they sold themselves. It's just that we're not teenagers anymore, in an old internet cafe playing on LAN with our friends. Even if a similar game is coming back, the entire moment with all its context is not.
Still, I'm happy to see they're still alive and faithful to their roots.
Obsidian has been arguably less so, but grounded and the outer worlds have both been unique feeling and creative titles in my eyes.
Troika? Obsidian?
Even revenue for the developer, or in enjoyment for the user? Because Torchlight (ex-Diablo-II ICs) was a humdinger of a D-II sequel in terms of gameplay, but sales? Not so much.
This makes me think that the biggest value that the studio brings to the table for revenue is brand recognition.
IOW, it doesn't matter how good the game is, brand recognition gets you over the line sometimes.