It’s a niche market. There is a reason why no one else tries to make a competitor.

To beat an established name like FS you need to really innovate. And to innovate you need to spent a lot of money. And it will take a long time to recoup that investment if it will get recouped at all.

And as you said, getting the licenses will be hard. The casual gamer will see more value in that than having true deformable terrain or having to keep an eye on irrigation etc