GG went through a 6 month internal process to settle on Horizon. Then switched to their 2nd choice, worked on it for 6 months and decided nope we want to make horizon again. thats actual dev time, not pre-production time where they decide on what to do next. they had already spend months on that, if not a full year. all of this in the horizon docs.
Stig's next game had all the big leads from GOW3 and it started dev in 2010 after shipping GoW3. Their second team made an entire game in 3 years while Stig and all those leads spent years working on a new game that never saw the light of day. these are just facts, i dont know why you are taking an issue with this.
We all know the circus behing firing Amy Henning. i just find it funny that when EA cancels Amy's game or any other game from a major studio or shuts down studios, the entire internet jumps down their throat. When sony does the same, its the opposite. apologists come out. everyone literally praises them for making a good business decision and cutting costs. its hilarious. though to be fair, i see this with Nintendo and MS as well. i remember getting into a lot of trouble for criticizing MS for cancelling new IPs and shutting down studios at the start of this gen. everyone would jump down my throat for saying MS needed more first party studios and now that Phil has finally done exactly what i was asking, no one seems to have an issue with it.
Games did get bigger and bigger, but they are also making more money. Like i said above, third party studios were able to adapt because they knew they simply had to hire more people AND invest in more teams. Sony literally did the opposite at the start of this gen as i pointed out the numerous studio closings and restructurings.
Like i said though, it seems sony is investing heavily in first party again by seemingly creating multiple teams in their existing studios. I am curious to see if that means more games every year. This year we will only see 2 AAA games from them which is extremely disappointing. I really hope the order sequel rumor is true. as much as i despised the game, sony shouldve given them another shot and mandated a focus on gameplay next time around. They no longer have Ueda, From Software, Until Dawn devs or Quantic Dream working for them so that limits their second party output even more.
All i know is that I cant take another empty post launch year from Sony. Infamous and DriveClub in 12 months after launch. I dont care if they launch with Horizon and GT6, that next year is crucial, and with Naughty Dog, SSM, Insomniac, Sony Bend, Sucker Punch and Kojima all releasing their games only a year or two before the PS5 launch, i am not sure if any of these teams will be ready by 2021. Unless Sony invests and creates multiple teams.