It's all about appealing to a wider audience. Increasing sales requires lowering the barrier of entry by making games more accessible. This means maps, waypoints, less reading, hand holding, less difficult puzzles (or none at all).
There still are game genres which are punishing such as Roguelikes which, unlinke their Roguelite cousins can be quite punishing.
Yeah, nowadays games must appeal to masses for good sales. For hardcore lovers it's always possible to grab a retro game and reminisce the good times.
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