Barlow's argument does resonate, however, and it's entirely possible that Bloober Team may be dealing with an unwinnable situation, depending on how the community reacts to the title once it's out.

Source: https://gamerant.com/silent-hill-2-poison-chalice/

In particular, Giant Bomb's Jeff Grubb called out the company's "unwinnable war on Steam" as one potential reason behind the layoffs.

Source: https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/epic-games-store-egs-makes-no-money/

Nevertheless, throughout "Succession" he can't resist creating fresh gauntlets of psychological games masquerading as competency tests, although they're designed to be unwinnable.

Source: https://www.salon.com/2023/03/26/ready-to-reinvest-in-succession-skim-the-roys-portfolio-to-get-up-to-speed-in-time-for-season-4/

Nonetheless, the island aggressively moves people and pieces through various agents, gods and spirits, making the battle for free will nearly unwinnable, as the chaotic balance of light and dark is a constant on the cursed island.

Source: https://www.cbr.com/record-of-lodoss-war-anime-fate-vs-free-will/

Unfortunately for fans of the show, the game adaption for the Amstrad CPC was an unwinnable mess.

Source: https://www.cbr.com/unbeatable-video-games-accidental/