Now we’re talking about money? Do you have the slightest idea of how much of a cash cow WoW have been for Blizzard since 2004? In 2010 WoW had more than 10 millions subscribers. $100m a month, not counting the price of the expansion packs.
What about GTA? 400 millions copies sold.
Skyrim could have failed miserably, you’d still be able to play BG3 in is exact same form as today. Skyrim is no exception. As a matter of fact, Skyrim wouldn’t exist if it was not for previous successful games.