Sometimes what works in Europe simply won't work in the Pacific (game design wise that is).
I like A3R. But trying to cram A3R together with Rising Sun, only led to World at War, which is a VERY high-priced tagged product I probably wouldn't play for the same reason I can't play Europa. No one has a table big enough for Fire in the East let alone a space as big as something that has all the way from the Urals to the Atlantic and from North Norway to the middle of Africa.
But A3R did the Med just fine. The Med doesn't need a game that is just the Med. It just needs a game that starts out as the entire complete Theatre. So War in the East 1 or 2, ideally needs to be built with WitW in mind from the beginning in such a way that the North African campaign was included, meaning it has to begin in 1939.
Or in other words, WitE2 should have been released in 2025 and a complete theatre like A3R. A rebuild of the best of both WitE and WitW and back dated to 1939.
I think WitE2 was too timid. Yes, I said timid.
it would have cost me ever seeing Steel Tigers, but Gary could retire in 2025 and never need to wonder if his name would ever be forgotten

Or it might have killed him

I've seen people finish a work of genius, and never recover from the creation.
Wargame, 05% of the time.
Play with Barbies 05% of the time.
Play with Legos 10% of the time.
Build models 20% of the time
Shopping 60% of the time.
Exlains why I buy em more than I play em.