I dont think they are advocating dropping side content, but instead saying that having side content that is hidden or has no direction can take fun out of a game. For example, in OG pokemon games there are “hidden” items that have no hints or clues that they exist. If you walk to certain spots and press the action button you can find hidden items, but since there are no clues or indicators that they are there, it encourages just walking around and mashing buttons for the entire game in case there is another hidden item, which is the opposite of fun.

Well, it cost 100s of billions to build all the data centers NEEDED for AI to cure cancer, so they need to recoup the money they invested in curing you of course. Plus because of their generosity they also deserve to make billions of dollars more in profit. Pay up peasants!