If anything WOW has resisted the trend in MMOs where many have a well developed free to play mechanic backed up by unlocking individual features and content. Bioware's SWTOR does very well money wise with a much smaller player base. The cartel shop is which is nearly all cosmetic is a huge source of revenue. WOW is a relic from a previous generation of subscription only games which started in the 90s and faded out by 2010 with very few relying solely on subscriptions.
The future is subscriptions for steady defined bonuses backed up with digital content which can be merely cosmetic or bonuses that don't exceed what a subscription grants and can even enhance that. See Wargaming, which produces games like World of Tanks, World of Warships, and more. You can be wholly free to play or you pay to ease the grind. Working this way you let players get midway into the game before the grind starts to be noticeable then sell them a means to ease it
The pay to win loot box crowd may have finally killed their golden goose with relentless greed brought to the forefront by some very large titles by well known companies generating a lot of bad press.
There are countless small games on tablets and phones which pull in large revenue for boosts and cosmetics.
> The future is subscriptions for steady defined bonuses backed up with digital content which can be merely cosmetic or bonuses that don't exceed what a subscription grants and can even enhance that.
Why? Subscriptions are not casual-friendly at all. Take GW2, for example. I bought the expansion in august, and had to stop playing in october. I might've logged in for the daily chest, but otherwise I haven't played. When I played, I bought some gold and cosmetic items. A few QoL items as well. And I bought the game plus expansions/DLCs. The original game is now F2P. There is no subscription. Me basically not having played the game since october cost me nothing. If I were playing WoW still, I'd have paid 13 EUR a month for essentially nothing. WoW's main gameplay is raiding. Raiding requires M+ dungeons and grinding. WoW's subscription model means that if you stop playing, you fall behind. The entire game is made to keep you subbed (I call it "forced errands"). It made me feel bad when I didn't play the game ("FOMO"). Contrast that to GW2: I can take a break whenever I feel like. A subscription model does not cater well to casuals. And the casuals are the masses. You don't see new MMOs follow subscription models. Some tried to, and they failed, including your SWTOR example.
There's been some rumours that SWTOR might be axed soonish, although I hope it's not true.
You're also kind of glossing over the fact that SWTOR is still (rightfully) ridiculed in MMO circles for its initial F2P offering (click here to buy this additional hotbar!).
IMHO the most healthy MMOs are still subscription-driven: WoW, EVE, and FFXIV.
I wouldn't call this free to play though. It's a free trial, so to speak.
Even the most decidedly non-hardcore "regular" WoW players would reach Level 20 in a month easily, whereas there's enough content to keep you occupied for years even if you started just now.
The future is subscriptions for steady defined bonuses backed up with digital content which can be merely cosmetic or bonuses that don't exceed what a subscription grants and can even enhance that. See Wargaming, which produces games like World of Tanks, World of Warships, and more. You can be wholly free to play or you pay to ease the grind. Working this way you let players get midway into the game before the grind starts to be noticeable then sell them a means to ease it
The pay to win loot box crowd may have finally killed their golden goose with relentless greed brought to the forefront by some very large titles by well known companies generating a lot of bad press.
There are countless small games on tablets and phones which pull in large revenue for boosts and cosmetics.