We all know the story, so many passion projects are taken down by companies and most commonly not even for reasons that make much sense.
Most recently I saw, portal 64 taken down by valve, you have to own portal, made for a dead old console.
Thats just one of many examples, which leads me to the actual question, why be under the very common threat of an uncaring ruthless company like this instead of creating something new? Or a company that doesn’t openly kick people in their butt? ( Nintendo being so prone that valve didnt even wanna bother)
My guess is that people are really into the whole lore and world that they have a bunch of good ideas already. Fewer people already have a whole fictional world of their own built out. And there’s a much larger audience for the existing world, that people wouldn’t be as likely to give a new world a chance.
But I think it’s mostly because people don’t care too much at the beginning whether it’ll be taken down eventually, they just have an idea they want to exist and put out there for other people to enjoy.