no, I think you're spot on. I've noticed that as well. It's a combination of a few things I think. First, you can actually make money off games now. If you can build a game that draws enough attention you only need to make consistent and large enough updates every month or so to keep people...
I honestly don't remember how exactly I found this world, but your response sounds right on track with what I remember. I probably found them 20 years ago though.