In 2009 half the players probably lost their jobs due to the housing bubble crisis and the onset of the depression. In 2006 fortune 500 companies were already quietly shedding workers. By 2010 half of the remaining AH players not retirees with an income, were probably working their kesters off or moving home with their parents just to pay the bills and had no disposable income to keep paying $14.95 a month to Hitech.
nuget at that time, if you are not a shade of some adult to troll us, you were probably someone's kid who's parents had jobs and you were "clueless" to how bad many were impacted around the world until recently. While many players could no longer afford $14.95 a month, the FPS era during the depression was helping kids and young adults milk their parents or their own meager bank accounts with the new wave of "freemium" games specifically targeting their demographic to hook them.
Aces High is not those other games you cling to as your perch to pass judgment on Hitech's business acumen.