You are missing the point. Splinterlands is successful not because of hive the blockchain but because Agg and Matt created a killer product, have amazing vision and under estimated the amount of success and volume SPL would eventually have. Not to mention seeing value in the Hive community and capitalizing on the community, in a fair way. Yes the freemium structure, as Agg now puts it, has helped SPL but the isolated nature of the Hive blockchain is now holding SPL back, in my opinion.