They didn't get swept up in the live-service trend

I guess by "didn't get swept up" the author meant these companies didn't go all-in like western studios, because all 3 have their portion of f2p mobile crap, with Konami being the worst offender with, PES Mobile, eFootball and others.

I suppose another big difference is shareholder expectation. In the US, if you don't grow every quarter, you're dead.