I think they were hoping to build their own CU that could cross over into the main MCU films eventually, making all of their Sony-verse films required watching to understand the lore for event films like Infinity War and Endgame. On top of watching Black Panther 2 and Guardians 3, you also can't miss Kraven the Hunter or Madame Web! We even have a No Way Home tease in Venom 2! They're definitely gonna all cross over in the end, so buy your tickets now!
Yeah. After the absolute bombs of Morbius and Madame Web; after Venom was snubbed by the MCU writers going "Ehhhhh we're good." for No Way Home's roster; and especially after even the core MCU films have struggled to retain audience attention or positive sentiments; I think even the most delusional execs at Sony finally see the writing on the wall.
R.I.P. Sonyverse. You sure were something alright.