I have not been active in CG for some years now. I just discovered that LW had been acquired in 2019 and seems to be once again sold to a new company in the UK run by experienced LW artists. I hope it has a bright future.
https://lightwave3d.com/
Yep, Lightwave 2023 was recently released and is impressive. There's a lot of activity on their Discord channel too. Check it out!