It was F2P. That means it's designed primarily as a vehicle for selling micro-transactions, not as a game experience. Which means for it to "work as intended" they need artists and community/other marketers to keep churning out content and getting people to buy it. If the projections say there aren't enough whales left, it collapses under its own weight.
If they let it keep running at zero revenue, the initial spending on the game is gone, but still considered part of the cost of an ongoing product. If they shut it down and totally shitcan it, they can call the development expenditures a "loss" and write down their taxes.
It was F2P. That means it's designed primarily as a vehicle for selling micro-transactions, not as a game experience. Which means for it to "work as intended" they need artists and community/other marketers to keep churning out content and getting people to buy it. If the projections say there aren't enough whales left, it collapses under its own weight.
If they let it keep running at zero revenue, the initial spending on the game is gone, but still considered part of the cost of an ongoing product. If they shut it down and totally shitcan it, they can call the development expenditures a "loss" and write down their taxes.