Their numbers would be fairly on-par with what they make now even if it was every 2-3 years, and I'm fairly confident in that guesstimate. My comment is more to the initial "why are games always broken at launch?" thing that started this thread.

Yes, they sell. They are generally released at the start of the holiday shopping season for a reason. Are they altogether great? I think you'll find sales numbers do not necessarily equate quality, and vice versa of course too.

No, I have nothing against Call of Duty titles, nor do I have anything against Assassins Creed titles. I do see the problem however in that marketing and sales teams need to keep their social brand awareness at a constant fever pitch year-round that they have created a precedent that is not only somewhat silly to behold, but causes actual creative and technical problems large and small across the development of the products themselves. Shining Example: Assassins Creed: Unity. What. A. Goddamn. Mess.

Without getting too far into the weeds I can tell you that studios are burning out their talent left and right with paces like this, but you don't hear a ton about it in mainstream press, and chances are even blogs are told "don't print sad stories or talk to our disgruntled people" for fear of missing out on future PR treats. And in that burn-out you see a lot of mistakes becoming more and more common. Project mismanagement is rampant - gotta hit a release date "at all costs" - and you're seeing it left and right in todays AAA releases at launch. Sure they quickly pull a few more all-nighters in most cases and get their bugs fixed up, but not before tainting the initial experiences and getting a ton of bad press.

Don't kid yourself, this precedent will not recede until the market dries up. The wheels are gonna fall off eventually, but it's still gonna take a bit.