Um. Hivewire was not taken over, not sure where you got the info. The owners made the decision to focus on development instead of store, and on maintaining a community. The forums and the community is still there and are wonderful. The owners and developers are working on new products and they are selling here. This was no takeover.

Prices are going up everywhere, not just on 3d products. It's part inflation, part 2020 and 2021. The Poser ecosystem is small, especially now that the other software no longer even support Poser formatted products on their marketplace. It is a niche, and the market corrects itself.