Its a fine line between making the community happy and making sure they make their projected profit. Its a business first though, its naive to think otherwise. Sure the development team is about the game, but they have producers and executives that make sure the game is profitable for them and their publisher. But as you pointed out, 2k has found a good balance(being a monopoly on the market helps).
All in all, i feel like most gamers do not have a real grasp on how much it cost to make AAA games.