as for people sticking to GW, there is nothing preventing them playing something else when they already have the minis. they're usually just lazy and or outright dumb (in the sense constantly complaining about GW, and even more the game itself, but still stick to it like retarded little paypiggies even when there are other options right in front of them). it's not an issue of finding games, but simple lack of enthusiasm for actual tabletop and pushing plastic dudes together. they're not better than secondaries really when you think about it. they wouldn't even need to stop "playing warhammer", they could just use different rules, or even older edition. but nah....
I'd say part of it is because they genuinely are 40K fans, so letting go is hard for them; the other part is that, as you said, they're too lazy to reach out and try another game. Maybe they're too in love with the setting of 40K to get into anything else, maybe they don't feel like learning about another game, or maybe they weren't tabletop wargaming fans at all, just 40K fans. And they've been programmed for so long to always use the newest rules and keep up with the fluff, even though the older editions were better in the eyes of many fans.
It's weird seeing this kind of devotion to 40K as a Star Wars Expanded Universe fan, and seeing the 40K fans REEEE every time some new stupid rules nerf a beloved faction, or some lore changes cause the lore nuts to go.....well....nuts. I mean, for my money, I see the old Star Wars Expanded Universe as the true Star Wars, and I just peek behind the curtain now and then to see what Disney's doing. If it's entertaining, sure, I'll watch, but if it's not, well, it's just glorified fanfiction anyways, so I couldn't care less. So when shows like Ahsoka and Bad Batch don't quite live up to the hype, I'm just sitting there thinking ''meh, that was slightly entertaining.''
Meanwhile, the 40K fans seem to act as if their hobby and fandom is actively hurting them with each change. From the Primaris, to the Female Custodes, to price hikes and nerfing of certain factions, to the whole fanfilm debacle with Warhammer Plus, it seems that the fans are just REEEE-ing at the fact that yes, late-stage woke capitalism has taken hold of their hobby, inserting all sorts of changes from greedy tactics to wring money out of players, to restrictive rules on fan media that made Nintendo seem saintly in comparison, to woke pandering to appeal to some demographic, and now they're crying about it. But the thing is, they're too in love with Warhammer to pull away; some convinced themselves of this love by insulting other sci-fi and saying that 40K is the real hardcore science-fantasy for them, others have spent literal fortunes on Warhammer armies, so pulling out now means all that money goes to waste.
This does remind me of one guy who genuinely pulled out of Warhammer Fantasy after they made some changes that pissed him off, and his response was to burn bridges with GW by literally burning his Warhammer minis.
That was one hell of a way to quit. But I doubt most 40K fans who are angry at GW right now, for lore or tabletop reasons, would go that far.
