It’s the exact same thing actually. Their claim was:

Good games will sell regardless of what’s out

But that’s just not true, and game studios of all sizes know that. The risk aversion of these companies exist because of the reality of the situation.

It also has nothing to do with a studios confidence in their game. The quality of a game is light years away from being the sole objective indicator of a games sales. The Outer Wilds is objectively one of the greatest games ever made and has no real peers in what it does. And yet it didn’t make nearly the sales numbers as the latest asset flipped Call of Duty game.