A decision which has made them a metric shit-ton of money. Why would they stop when they've found a winning formula? And why would Microsoft decide to stop such an easy revenue stream? Sure the Diablo name is being dragged through the mud (among a particular demographic, at least) but the consequences for that are years or even decades away. If anything, "cleaning up shop" might mean shutting down the less profitable divisions - something Blizzard has been actively doing anyway.
> This will probably lead to Activision-Blizzard continuing on its previous, doomed trajectory that it was on back in 2021.
Maybe their trajectory is doomed when measured in decades. Right now they're printing cash. I think they're happy to abandon their legacy "core" audience in exchange for the gacha whales that will pay them multiples more for a cheaper-to-make experience.
I realize that a lot of us grew up with Blizzard games, I myself have all the CE boxes they shipped since Warcraft III. But the people who made those experiences are generally long gone. A change of ownership is unlikely to radically change priorities or bring back the magic.