>>51164955This.
The interests of kids very much reflect the environment they grew up in. Gen 1 came out in the 90's, the age of grunge and punk. That's the crowd they marketed it for.
But the 2000's started this shift to a less-violent world. Undoubtedly influenced by a certain event in 2001. Fast forward to now and the world (thanks to social media) seems like a scarier place than ever. Every other week we're hearing about another pandemic or attack somewhere. Riots, looting, racial and gender tensions. It's all they ever hear.
In that regard, I can't really blame them for wanting to play games that focus more on multiplayer fun with cutesy, non-violent characters. TPC is just giving them what they want. They're a business at the end of the day after all.
TL;DR The world seems scary to kids now and they probably want something more lighthearted than older fans.