For sure. It’s easier and more accessible to put out titles in genres that have relatively little development overhead, while it’s also a much lower risked investment for titles with particularly unusual mechanics or gimmicks.

Competetion is also far more fierce. There are only a handful of AAA publishers and they all do the same stuff. Liveservice multiplayer looter or open world single player movie-like stuff.

An environment where games like Undertale, Hollow Knight, Celeste, Dusk, Stardew Valley and Ion Fury rein supreme encourages making a stand out game far more than an environment that is more concerned with the in game store, cinematography of cutscenes and photorealistic graphics.

Excellent observation. I mentioned that in another comment. Not only are dev costs low, but risks can be taken. An example: Blood West I’m sure you guessed with a name like that it’s a Western flavored FPS. And it is. It has more story than usual. The downside is that during the first hour of game play you will have fired all of six rounds. Also, initially your character is a marshmallow. You die a LOT! AFTER that period you start getting in to the story and have better weapons and armor starts being a thing. The game is not my favorite, however, it is a welcome break from frenetic blasting. I hope in the next incarnation they figure out a better balance at the beginning of the game.