You mean like every modern, mainstream game released today?
You mean like FiraXcom, The Elder Fallout & AfriCry? Yeah, I see what you mean...
Correlation doesn't necessarily mean there's a causal relationship. Sequelitis, simplification and stagnation in the gaming landscape, for example, coincide quite nicely, but they really have f-all to do with each other.
Sequelitis naturally happens when there's a bunch of beloved gameplay archetypes in a bunch of beloved IPs. People want a repeat experience with more polish and improved graphics. Which means sequels that add revitalise replay value, have better graphics, are better balanced, but are otherwise identical to the original game.
Stagnation and simplification happens when the entities that fund game development take an active role in game design. They want to use existing IPs because doing so hopefully lets them hook into an existing customer base. And they want to every game to be a cinematic corridor shooter, because those have the widest known audience. The result is that AAA games become sequels-in-name-only, with gameplay more or less drastically changed to appeal to everyone, from horror-punks to nazi-christians, between the ages of alive and dead.
I wouldn't be surprised if the slow slide towards Awsum Button! is really all about trying to incorporate the One-Armed Man into the audience.
That people want to experience more of the same gameplay and IP, but without feeling like they're retreading old ground, doesn't mean that they don't also want entirely original experiences. And that AAA funders are risk adverse and money hungry aren't inherently bad things. It just means we should stop expecting them to drive more than the technical evolution of gaming. It's really not terribly different from cinema. Nobody expects Hollywood to be the driving force behind the evolution of the use of the media. We only expect them to be the driving force behind the technical side of it, and they do meet that expectation (though terribly fucking slowly... Gamingland evolution has been a hell of a lot faster, thankfully).