In the case, for whatever reason rF2 got left behind, and/or forgotten by their respective teams S397/MSG, which would really be sad for all of us, I would like to think and pretty much count on It that the community would take over.
As they did with AC and It´s Content Manager. The success of ACC Is mainly due because of how well AC/CM turned out and Is still thriving on. According to Steam charts, It reached a peak player count of 17,931 players In the last 30 days, and I am not even sure If that counts Content Manager players as It has It´s own launcher. Just today, It had a peak player count of 4.446 players, circa what LMU Is getting while It´s a totally new game In the market.
Human beings are strange creatures In the sense that they might shy away from something that they for some reason lost Interest In, but when It goes missing, they suddenly gain Interest again and passionately try to get It back! You know, like that old girlfriend you left and now has moved on to another city.
Personally I find that AC+CM Is a great sandbox and a lot of fun (maybe that´s why Kunos Is working on AC 2 on It´s own engine again), but I also think that rF2 is a better game/engine and could be a better sandbox If the case would ever to come. As It did with rF1. Will that ever happen I don´t know, but If It did I think It would turn out great. Don´t get me wrong, I want my rF2 as Is or better, and would not change It for anything, but If push comes to shove I have hopes that It would prevail.
If there was a way to Isolate rF2 with It´s original content, by that I mean content made by S397 and have a app like AC´s Content Manager that does that, use the rF2 engine and manage the user created content In a easy way as It does, that would be great! It would take the burden off of S397 for creating and updating rF2, and any other user content would have to go through the CM app and work In It´s own environment. Then players would be free to choose which platform to use, be It rF2, or rF2+CM. Yeah I know, It´s copying a formula, but It´s a formula that works, at least with AC.
Anyhow no cristal ball here to know what the future will be, and speculations are just that, speculations!
Cheers