I personally consider it a good call and a necessary evil.
I know EQG it's sloppy as all hell and not a good product, but it took the capitalism bullet on behalf on the main show, and it allowed the writers to not be as demanded and pressured by Hasbro to keep throwing random bullshit to the show (like Cadence or Flurry Heart) in hopes to keep selling more and more, as EQG became the main cash cow and they could introduce, sell, and write pretty much literally anything without affecting FiM.
EQG was the entire reason why Hasbro didn't pull the trigger just yet, and I know it could be argued that the first three seasons were the only good ones as they were made with passion (because it's true), but I would have been pissed off if FiM ended that soon after all we've seen. The show did have so much more to give thanks to all the work mother did after spending so many years carefully crafting the pony world she would have loved to see as a kid, and later seasons (even EQG itself) did get to show a lot of good characters and ideas, regardless of their execution: The Pillars of Equestria. Good and memorable villains like Starlight, Tirek, Tempest, Cozy, the Dazzlings, Daybreaker and Wallflower. Cute and legitimate lovable new mares like Coco, Tree Hugger, PB, Mrs. Shy, Vapor Trail, Sugar Belle, Rara, Maud, Marble, Limestone, Sunset, and a few others (even Cadence, as much of a wasted potential she was from day 1). The hippogriffs, Novo, and Silverstream. More dragon stuff with Ember and Smolder. And a lot of other stuff that did make the world feel more alive and it would have been really good to see if Hasbro didn't treat Lauren like garbage, or if better writers picked the slack.