Herman was promoted in like November or December of 2019. That would have been 8 months after it shipped, and then there is a transitionary period where he's leaned into his role and others are still making decisions in the process along the way.
See how cringe woke their studio has been in statements since Garvin and company left, where they circled the wagons in such a way, I am confident they did not want to make the "gruff white biker" game sequel when their cult journalist friends dogged on those elements like the ideological retards they were.
There were clear culture shifts in all those west-coast studios around that time where it would drive people like Garvin angry. Hell, even Howser left his bro after RDR2 around that exact same time and same culture shifts funded by Blackrock, USAID, State Street, Vanguard, etc..