It may be a bit of a controversial take, but I feel strongly that needs a story. It's not that I believe every game needs a narrative, even if I admittedly prefer games with strong, emotionally charged stories.
Rather, whenever playing a game, the absence of a good story — beyond the series' typical vague excuses for venturing out and collecting resources that pass as its narrative — is really felt.
It hurts the game, not just because it robs it of an emotional core, but because it makes the experience less memorable. I'm fully aware that most of the series' core audience likely disagree, and I can understand why.
Putting a story in would be a huge strain on resources that would ultimately detract from the foundation that has made thegames the incredible series they are today.
However, after sinking dozens of hours into the record-breaking second beta and coming away from it feeling somewhat conflicted, it became very clear that now is absolutely the right time for the series to embrace a strong narrative.