I love advice like this, it makes everything so clear and easy. Find some guy, sell him LW. Piece of cake, so let's quit shilly-shallying.
In the real world, supposing there was a desire to find a new home for LW (and I'm not saying there is), a responsible vendor that cared about its loyal customer base would presumably want to find a good home for the product, one that held out at least a reasonable hope of stability, capacity, business acumen, funding, etc., etc. And even then, myriad legal details, entanglements and potential pitfalls might arise that would have to be amicably (or at least agreeably) resolved by all parties. No problem, right? Right?
jweide took rather the same approach in a reply on another post.
But the fact is, three quarters of the work was done when Newtek was valuated when it was purchased by Vizrt; as a an IP owned by Newtek, Lightwave had to be calculated into that valuation.
So at a minimum, the total value of Lightwave, it's licensing, and technology have all undergone that process.
The outright sale of it is a reasonably known value, as well as the relative intricacies of its wholly-owned and licensed technologies.
As far as the business acumen of a potential buyer / buyers... Well, show me the scale that can accurately measure that given any number of variables for any technology-based startup. It is literally a crapshoot, regardless of the skills or desires of the individual or teams involved. You could honestly have one of the best products with the most conscientious and devoted team, a stable funding base, great marketing and an enthusiastic user base and still fail.
In this situation for us, the end-users / customers, it really boils down to a single question; will there be future development and releases of Lightwave?
If the answer with Vizrt is no, then it is only logical that regardless of any number of unquantifiable variables, the user base wants to see Lightwave development continue and would want it to be sold to an individual / individuals with that intent.
I personally voted Yes to this poll; if Vizrt produces LW2021, I will buy it. I just think that it seems unlikely at this point that they will, given the loss and / or reassignment of key developers with intimate knowledge of the technology.
All that to say, YES... I would prefer a future where, despite the challenges, there was an unequivocated clear answer that Lightwave will continue development.
If that is Vizrt's intent, fine.
If it isn't, then it doesn't matter who buys it.... It will be a challenge regardless.