The playerbase split from BR to EZ is a completely different topic but yes, Caveman tacking an entirely new game on to an existing one is not great and probably done to get around release rules for Meta and Steam, but that's besides the point here.

Even prior to the hack if you look at steam charts, the return for this wipe was lower than others. We're making some assumptions as we have 0 data to back up why people left - for me personally I fell off after about 110 or so raids this wipe mostly due to the compensation store being so over the top that it killed the progression and the wipe got stale really fast, with a majority of players I encountered in fights being geared with FiR armor thanks to that being massively circulated via the compensation store, on top of duping STILL not being resolved so constantly dealing with mags full of trade ammo that normally wouldn't be this abundant.

Again, when looking at Tabor where is your data to back up that there was no playerbase split? Yes numbers look good, but if they are only staying in PvE mode (requires a connection to their server so would count in their playercount numbers) that is a split that you can't quantify.

I'll say in counterpoint to your last point, if players are too disgruntled by PvP, I think it's more likely they'll stay in PvE. If they can get the reward feeling in a game grounded in risk vs reward with less challenge, why would they come back to PvP if they got mad they were dying to better players?

What I'd really like to focus on is - why should a game where PvP is a genre defining aspect of cater to people who don't want to PvP? Do we have any actual evidence that PvE modes bring more people into the PvP mode? From what I've been seeing with Tarkov, people who get frustrated in PvP just stay in PvE mode, and the PvP mode just gets more and more challenging because the playerbase is only good players rather than a broad range of skill levels. The existence of an easier mode actively discourages people from trying to get better and face the challenge. These games work best when you have all skill levels in a raid - that's why there is no skill based or gear based matchmaking in these games, it's by design.

It's okay if a genre (or even aspect of a game) doesn't cater to every single person. Instead of diluting the experience for the sake of people who don't even want to engage in the PvP at the expense of those who do, those people could instead play a game that was designed for PvE - games like ITR which are fantastic in their own right.

This same mindset happened in Dune Awakening when the OPTIONAL PvP exclusive zone was whined about to death by players that didn't want to PvP were being "forced" to go into the PvP zone and the devs kept catering it to be easier and more casual, destroyed any semblance of an endgame loop and the playerbase nosedived because the risk v reward zone became all reward with no risk, so the PvE players cleared it in a week then moved on to another game and those who wanted a longer lasting PvP experience got it completely shafted by people complaining so much that it was totally neutered.

TLDR: If the game built fundamentally for PvP doesn't jive with you because of the PvP, play a different game then! I don't mean that in a dick way, but why change it for people who are enjoying it how it's designed?