The problem is that really-free alternatives are now good enough for most uses: VirtualBox is the go-to choice for Linux and OSX and is fairly solid, while Hyper-V now ships with Windows and is overall quite good.

VmWare have also run out of mainstream features to add, so it got harder and harder to solicit paid upgrades for what is basically an old-school shrinkwrap.

What they will likely do is freeze the codebase and turn it in a mini-SaaS where you don't get Tools updates and new OS support unless you pay a yearly sub. In practice that's already the case, they will just make it more locked down. You don't need talent for that sort of thing.