...huh. That does not match at all my understanding of how they were doing things.
You may be thinking of their limited release lines, where they plan on publishing a set number of books (generally 3-5, IIRC), and then they're done. Now, if the line does well, they can (and do!) add more books. Changeling and Scion, for example, have had extra books released (though not a lot -- not like Vampire); then there's Promethean, Geist, and I think one other that I'm forgetting (when I read the nWoD system, it didn't seem my taste, so I haven't kept up too much). The core of the nWoD system, though -- Vampire, Mage, Werewolf, and generic nWoD books -- have a steady stream of books released for them.
WotC, FWIW,
is following that "handful and done" model -- with settings. Eberron, FR -- 3 books & done, further support through DDI. But for the core lines, both WotC and WW are publishing books, and plenty of them.
You know, I'm sure there are plenty of RPG designers and publishers who would like to find a model that is at least as successful as the supplement-of-the-month club model, and some of them are trying various things. I'm sure they can get tired of trying to come up with yet new Subject of the Month, or at least a new take on it. However, the fact that they're still using the supplement model seems to indicate that it is still the most successful model. People like having new stuff for their game (go to the messageboards of a popular but less prolific game, and check out the "when is the next book coming?" posts), though at some point it does become too much (the exact point varies by person, naturally).
If WotC did try the "3-5 books and done!" model with every game, then they would be releasing 2-3 new games every year. That would probably end up looking like D&D: Forgotten Realms version, D&D: Eberron version, D&D: Dark Sun version, D&D: Greyhawk version, D&D: An Island With Giant Apes version, and so forth -- each with mostly the same rules, with slight variations that would probably increase over time (as the rules evolved). They would continue to leverage the heck out of the D&D brand, because I'm pretty sure a well-known name like D&D would sell better than "Our Second Generic Fantasy RPG of 2012".
And can you imagine the howls of protest (buying the same rules, want more books, etc.) such a model would bring? Supercells would spontaneously form over message board server farms, generating tornados that would wreak havoc upon the earth, leaving broken lives and heartbroken orphans in their paths. And nobody wants that.
So really, WotC is thinking of the children.
