Honestly from the sounds of it, this seems like rumor creep based off earlier half-witted attempts to do the same thing. Again, I understand having a strong shit-screen, and I understand running a lean operation to keep money flowing in and not risking angering the community.
I just have to re-iterate how large the success was with AOE2 2019 release, and what would be illegal is deleting useful project files in an ongoing business, even if your being laid off. That being said, all of those small losses can be replaced with a properly funded and stream-lined initiative.
I'll be honest I'm working on a side project game, and wanted to share some of the ideas here first because its very sup-com inspired and doing simple fixes like 1st person and floating camera options and VR compatibility (eg fix camera to floating point then allow head looking) are quick and allow attraction to a broader audience.
The game itself deserves the legitimacy that an all in one client could give. Just try and find the group ethic to get Square Enix to explore this idea, and lets wee where it goes from there. I want to see hordes of new players pulled off advertisements flooding the ladder and multiplayer games. That's the real goal here, game health, and health of function. Just think if FAF / Supcom rushed an almost identical product forward with VR, it would be ground breaking as the first title to provide VR environment for elo score. I think that would be a big deal, and it would set precedents for many titles to come into the extended future.