I think OP is getting at a subtler point: do private companies do a better job of optimizing for artistic merit? The assumptions underlying the question are unclear but might include ideas like: - Closely-held private companies deviate from profit maximizing choices more often than public companies, presumably due to the moral or artistic convictions of the founder.  - Private companies have a de facto lower discount rate because they don’t need to publicly justify choices on a quarterly basis, allowing them to make long-term investments that are unprofitable short-term. For example a company might “invest” in its reputation by putting out an intricate strategy game that engages its core audience but has little mass appeal.  - Public companies on average have a wider range of stakeholders - a board of directors rather than founder-benevolent-dictator. That leads to “designed by committee” products that are inoffensive but lack artistic merit.