A lot of games developers don't understand trends in gaming that aren't explicitly gamist. Even as walking sinulators and cozy games have garnered audiences that make those genres viable, many in the industry have refused to actually look at them with an eye to understand who they appeal to, why, and what about them is doing the connecting with their audiences.
I worked on a mobile PvP project that rejected purely aesthetic elements because none of the director, designer, not "monetization specialist" could understand why anyone would want them, even as Fortnite was bursting onto the scene making its money on its emotes and paper doll elements.
Art driven paper doll games were also eating our lunch in the mobile space.
There are clearly some in the industry who understand the appeal, but most of them are not decision makers in development studios. The decision makers got there by coming up in a much more focused, much less casual, much less inclusive era in gaming, and have a pretty fixed idea of what a game "is" or "is supposed to be".
Because of this,aAs things shift towards more IP licensing deal, the results are going to be a lot of conflicts between tone and gameplay on these projects.