But the finance people don't want THE game. They want A game that is ready to release that fits into their quarterly financial statements. Predictable cash flow has a lot of value. It's not just about knocking every opportunity out of the park.

Companies absolutely DO NOT want TWO games ready to release at the same time because the marketing attempts will cannibalize each other. So, when one game takes longer to develop than expected, and a release slot opens up, another game must fill that slot, even at the cost of quality, because releasing multiple games at the same time is untenable.

Blood, Sweat, and Pixels covers this in great detail: https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Sweat-Pixels-Triumphant-Turbule...

Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made : https://www.amazon.fr/Blood-Sweat-Pixels-Triumphant-Turbulen...