Oh man, he never said that.
im not gonna beat you over the head with it, since aperently pointing this out is verboten here, so let me phrase it this way then: Sven obviously cares because he IS a baldurs gate fan.
He said so in several interviews now.

But as for him not caring about what the fans want? I dont think he does, but id like it if he did.
Why? Because Obsidian did that, beamdog did that, and it didnt work.

People need to start realizing that they like the thing they always liked for a reason, because its that thing. you cannot simply replicate it and get the same result.
You cannot recapture the magic of old, you can only try to create something new.