I kind of disagree with that Tiamo... I can see where you might think it dilutes the player base though. Maybe.
What I think is that we are choosing the wrong enemy here and not trying to drag each other down by blowing out each others candles. How about we build each other up by making products so good that each tries to give the player the best possible product?
I think of RL examples where staying ahead of the market destroyed certain institutions (forgive me if my examples are mostly USA, but its my only frame of reference.
)... Department stores for example. When I was growing up, and I am not spring chicken, there were Montgomery Ward stores everywhere and they mostly dealt with home appliances etc and didn't really diversify...then came along a company that was also pretty old that took the appliances and added auto-care, clothing and bought locations that were more centrally located in malls and commerce area's... Sears/Roebuck pretty much put MW out of business... there may be a few freestanding stores left, but they are out of the competition.
But the story doesn't end there... a new monster has risen and is closing our malls and really hurting their anchor tenants... this monster began as an online bookstore (we all know its Amazon, so I will stop trying to build suspense) and they are, so far, constantly adjusting to the changing market place. Now they are doing the appliances, and assorted items and getting it to your front door in...sometimes overnight if you have the $$$... so bye bye sears. Amazon is now experimenting and may have implemented new things like home delivery with drones. A few restaurant services are also experimenting with home delivery by drone... I am getting alot of comedic thoughts about that and SNL will probably have a lot of fun with it; until they continue to innovate.
The point is that if we do not build our selves up and flatter by imitation and innovation, we will probably sink further into irrelevance. So I want to see other programs in the works... I want to be spurred on by the guy running next to me and stretch to that finish line.
Who is the winner? Well, the consumer is... the player of these games is because they have some tough choices to make. Hopefully they will have the time to do both! Or more! If we are building a game or any other product we are providing a service and whether its for compensation or not, it should be the best possible product.
I am such a novice at this stuff and have no formal training in marketing, so I welcome your additions or corrections to what I just wrote, I want to learn too. What I do know is that I have a lot of choices in what game I play, what food I eat, movies I watch, colleges I attend (or send my offspring) and I am glad that those are quality choices and that I can consider the best available in all of those area's. If we provide that philosophy to all facets and products in our lives, those lives are improved. I don't want to be alone at the top (I am not there of course) but I want to be there with friends and family that feel the same way and were there with me through the entire journey. Lets all share a frosty beverage when we get there and lets smile and hug those who were there with us the whole way.
Sorry for preaching and if you have read this far, then you have a better attention span than many.
Be wealthy