Hopefully IK never goes that route but they are also in the hardware business.
If Waves reverts back I doubt there will be enough forgiveness. Nothing like giving the end user a large middle finger. Another reason for them not to revert back is stuffed shirts wont give up their pride.
We often overlook the plugins in our DAWs.
What is also overlooked is now there will be an increase of piracy. Hackers like challenges.
Small developers are where it's at. See Boz, TGR, Melda, and of course Fab Filter.