The thing keeping Blender from being any kind of threat to the big studio apps is still it's wildly convoluted UI, and unconventional structure.  Fixing that software to appeal to most studios, or even the average masses of 3D hobbyists, will be a monumental undertaking.  I heard some users suggesting it's interface had been improved in recent releases, so I downloaded it to see.  To my eyes, and brain, it's still the same ol Blunder UI, with hard to find menus, opposite mouse selections, and inconsistant tool development.  It's the only UI in existance that I consider more confusing than Zbrush or 3dsmax, and almost more unintuitive than Modo.  Modo still holds that record.

I think Silo's demise, sadly, was something we could have seen coming.  It became more buggy with each release, and Nevercenter didn't seem to acknowledge that fact.  Much the same with Hexagon, although I never even attempted to try that app.  I mean, I watched a video of someone using Hexagon once, and was shocked at how much work it was to do some really simple things.  I mean, just moving a vertice along an edge took seven steps, at least!  The guy had to first create a spline from the edge, then move the vertice along the spline, or some such wackyness. I was really hoping he just didn't know an easier way, but come to find out that's how you have to do it in Hexagon.  Seriously, I would never consider using a modelling app that didn't have edge sliding.  That's a serious feature omission.