I mean, that is a minis game, with a minis business model. It’s a pretty straightforward “are you down to pay enormous sums of money for these tiny spaceships” proposition. Just because I am not, does not mean I begrudge people who are. It’s when the question is “do you want to play this delicious game bad enough to pay an extra $100 for tiny plastic mans you not only don’t want but will take up enormous amounts of space and be a huge PITA to deal with” that I get shirty.
And FWIW, i agree that it probably wouldn’t still be in development without the minis. Because the profit is way better on individually sold plastic spaceships than on traditional boardgame expansions.