Gray Ghost: BioWare knew exactly,what they did. That is not blaming them, but they did bunk on it. Just look at the trailers for Veilguard and the press releasesm
How much of Veilguard is because of BG3?
I doubt Bioware had made the Veilguard companions all playersexual/Bi and announced it prominently, if BG3 did not have so much success through thirsting.