War Thunder is more or less an instant gratification game, something you can drop in or drop out of with little investment in time etc. DCS/MSFS takes a little more dedication and investment and it seems as though a hell of a lot of gamer these days want that instant dopamine hit.
IL2, was in my opinion a very good middle ground with some simplification in many areas but with time investment require. Unfortunately, (IMO) IL2 in the last year or so made some absolutely terrible decisions particularly with AI, the laughable damage model that they currently have and the "updated" ammunition penetration values.
I don't really care if Combat Pilot has a "workable" cockpit environment. What I do care about is the AI, damage model and flight model are the most realistic we can possible get given current software/hardware limitations.