But the people who don't use VLC are able and willing to use python-gst, pywebkitgtk, and python-gtk?

true - but I would rather be forced to use something that has been downloaded 1 billion times[1], than something that is a custom player just for this codec and is relatively untested (with all due respect)

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3970611