People really don't understand how many players there are who just don't care about this stuff. They get none of the gamer rage, they don't check reddit or lemmy, they're not watching Twitter to see what the game journos are pissed about. DLC and MTX make buckets of money, even when compared to the profits from most full games, and they're magnitudes cheaper and easier to develop. They're not going away as long as they're bought and they're going to be bought, I guarantee it. It's not even a bad thing, per se, as long as the player feels they've gotten their money's worth.

If anyone is looking to return gaming to a pre-"horse armor" state where big DLCs were the only option, you are looking for a fantasy that will never, ever happen. I've seen the numbers for some of the orgs I've worked for and it's hilariously skewed toward that stuff. The real answer is to pivot to different games. Embrace indies and games that don't have MTX. You're never gonna get the AAAs back in the bottle.