I don't personally see it as playing it safe, any more than Exoddus was doing so being a 'bonus game' back in the day. We've heard bits and pieces about the original Quintology plans regarding the different heroes of Oddworld, with the endgame to team them up somehow. Without Exoddus, sticking to the original vision, we'd have had only one game per protagonist.
Abe as a character became so popular that (perhaps unintentionally) he became synonymous with Oddworld. And what was to be a quick build to an ensemble cast with a single overarching story suddenly had reason to take its time, to do a more personal dive into Abe and his story, specifically. And I welcome that
While the heroes of Oddworld would all contribute to a larger tale, they still had their own arcs and personal journeys. Abe sets out to liberate his people, Munch's was to save his species from extinction. Even Stranger, while not a Quintology hero, had his own arc regarding the Steef. These other stories can still happen and be explored in detail once Abe's saga is complete, and can still count toward the Oddworld lore as a whole. It'll just be in more depth.
Soulstorm is a reimagining of Exoddus, which itself was never Quintology part 2. Maybe I'm wrong, but the new plans seem to me that we'll get an Abe saga, then maybe a new series of games for other heroes moving forward.