It's both. Ubisoft is a perfect example of gaming actively seeking its nadir, having fully embraced the ethics of gambling and mobile fee2pay games in fully priced games, all while offering a highly buggy and mediocre experience. On the other hand, you still have CD Projekt Red... it's not as though the spirit of Carmack has died.

It was rare then, it's rare now, but it does feel like it might be dwindling. Before it was just a matter of talent and ethics. Now it's a matter of talent, ethics, the scale of production, and the possibility of massive payouts by embracing LCD tactics.

Your perception of technology changes as you age. Anything new in your teens and 20s is hailed as a innovation sure to change the world in profound new ways. In your 30s-40s, weird and burdensome, no better than the traditional ways of doing things. Past that point, you'll view everything as borderline destructive and proof of society's decline.