They are
definitely milking GTA 5 to death and it's funny to hear them critiquing certain business models when the way they have GTA 5 set up would be a stereotypical showcase for some of those business models, let alone the complete trainwreck of an E3 "conference" they had just a couple months ago (you thought I forgot? HA!). That much is clear as day.
IMO they're probably the most guilty of milking a property for multi-platform re-releases, regardless if there are performance enhancements or not. But it's not like some of us don't hold them to task for it; sadly the mainstream market just doesn't give a shit and will happily buy each new version on as many platforms it releases on. It's the ultimate result of iterative training and nigh indoctrinated, cult-like fandom every company dreams of achieving.
I think the key difference is that we don't really care if they release GTAV on 100 platforms, if they were still releasing new games along with it. Ubisoft didn't stop at AC III.
That's a big part of it. They've only had one release last gen that wasn't a port: Red Dead Redemption 2. Their business model is exactly the kind of thing WRT massive costs/production increases, thematic narrowing and homogenization in the AAA space that Shawn Layden's comments were directly in reference to.
Wasted potential.
Just imagine we could have had a "Ballad of Gay Tony" type expansion (i.e. quality single-player DLC) or even a new standalone game... but nope. I think RDR2 is the last original R* game we'll get for several more years.
At this rate GTA 6 will be their only new game for the entire decade. They don't care though as long as it sells 100s of millions of copies and hey, more power to them.
Unfortunately (IMO) that also means the mass market at large doesn't care, either.
