[zerohp]

My experience agrees with yours. Many big-budget teams use a hardware emulator like the Palladium XP or the similar Synopsis device. Both built from FPGAs.

Hardware emulators are expensive, but a single mask respin at 7, 10, or 16nm is even more expensive.

[gluggymug]

There is a distinction between hardware emulators and FPGAs. Though hardware emulators such as Palladiums may use FPGAs inside them they don't work the same way in terms of validation. The two tools are very different to use.

See myth 7 here: http://www.electronicdesign.com/eda/11-myths-about-hardware-...