Games companies seem to struggle to branch out. Like all the employees are put on one game at a time which takes longer to make than ever before. You can't polish a turd - why isn't putting all your eggs in one basket considered a risk? Why aren't these valuable IPs being exercised while we still remember what they are?

I don't buy that it suddenly takes 5 times longer to make a game. Voice acting and mocap FMVs are self-inflicted wounds. There are some genres like 'imsims' and metroidvanias which are so strongly defined by a few beleaguered series that talented indie devs have picked up the slack. Their great challenge is not making a good game, it's making the game be seen. Make a game with a similar team size but using an IP people remember fondly and you've got a hit. At worst, you've wasted a fraction of the budget Rockstar are spending on bespoke concrete textures.