Every investor worth his salt can tell you that if he can choose between shares of EA or CD Projekt he'll rather go with EA
I am not sure. Being big doesn't mean earning lots of money. More often it means burning lots of money. That is why they may need these practices - when you hit 100 million budget for your game, perhaps selling it for just 60$ may just not cut it anymore. But if you don't, you're getting eaten by competition. Like, EA sports games - they sorta have a monopoly on those because they invest into all these graphics, animations, big names, voices and whatever.
Why do you need lotsa money? Aside from having a private jet and drinking pina coladas on your private island. From my small and pointless knowledge of business, it's like a hamster wheel. You really can't stop. If you don't take a place (like a place for your shop), someone else would take it and you're out of luck forever. So you mindlessly buy places (like IPs) just to stay in the game.