Why would an indie studio working every hour they have be expected to outcompete an established company with unionised engineers? I _want_ to believe the indie

Why would an indie studio working every hour they have be expected to outcompete an established company with unionised engineers? I _want_ to believe the indie group would win that but it seems unlikely. Maybe one of a large number of small studios comes out ahead while most fail, but that doesn't help the failing ones much. Do you have a mechanism in mind?