Originally Posted by
Sho
This is a more clear way of explaining what I was trying to explain. I could have been less convoluted and not have gone as far as say they are hemorrhaging money, but still. Fact is, the game isn't producing to the level that they want, so they asked Matsui to cut costs. It's interesting to note that (if this article is to be believed) the execs did not tell him to discontinue the game. They told him to cut expenses and he made the decision on his own to opt for giving the game a definitive end instead of spreading out content over small patches.
Regardless, that does not discount the fact that they as a team of SE are given a budget that can increase or decrease depending on how well the game does, much like any other division in a big tech company. It's hard to take any one serious who's throwing out random numbers based on conjecture, because a budget is always fluctuating for good or for bad, depending on the success of the product. However, you don't need rocket science or maths to be able to realize a product that's not doing too well. You also don't need numbers to realize what will inevitably happen. It's easy to say "Oh, Team X probably has Y number of people doing Z, so Team X should be sufficient in their upkeep of product W," but without any actual numbers of Y, Z, and W, one can't be sure how well the team should be doing at all.
TL;DR: I'm more willing to believe the Producer who put out a PR statement on the status of the game, rather than random people (including myself) making up numbers on what they should believe should be sufficient enough for the game's upkeep in any aspect.