The gaming space may have changed but I'd say it's because you changed.

You brought in your decision the "worth playing". Is this game worth to buy or is this game worth my time. When you can give your time a value, you can also compare it to what you are doing and if it's worth to do that.

I tend to not really do that too much, because gaming is a hobby. If I start to compare it to what I could earn, well it doesn't give the most "value" in monetary gain or maybe knowledge gain. But that is why it is a hobby for me, not work.

On the other side, is it worth playing? What is the comparison? The price? If you like the game? For me, if I can enjoy it, and come back to it, even if it's very long (Warframe for example is the one where I have the most hours played), well it's worth playing to me.

Tho some games are very expensive for the experience they give and some are really s* recently (gollum *cough) and those are not worth playing.

And is it worth playing compared to your other games? Maybe, maybe not? If you wait you can get discounts (at least on pc), and increase the value. And play your backlog in the meantime.

I think that playing the most recent games can be enjoyable but not always the best "value". Tho I still play "newer" even if I have the backlog, which I use as a filler between releases and "patient gamers" style.