Gaming is a much more active hobby than movies or music, where the commitment is much smaller. A film takes, on average, two hours to watch; a full-length album about 45 minutes to listen to. And, crucially, you can combine these things with other activities: People listen to music and podcasts while you’re at the gym, and you’ll sometimes watch television shows while you’re doom scrolling on your phone. Neither of these things are possible with games, where the vast majority of releases demand your entire attention — usually for tens if not hundreds of hours.
I am actually surprised someone would think that subscriptions services were the future of gaming at any point
It’s an additional way to play games. That’s about it.
I'll say this.. Since I got PS Extra I have spent FAR less $ on games, because I'm biased to play games that are on the service. This can't be good for gaming companies... Can't be sustainable
They were never the future, they're just an option. There will be cases like low income families, for example, that will only sub to GP and PS+. These services are valuable to them, and they wouldn't otherwise have been spending much money on games to begin with.
But people still buy games and people will always buy games. Streaming is super popular in music, TV, and film. People still buy albums, TV show box sets, and blu rays.
Just an additional way to play. Why would anyone think subscription gaming only would be the future?