Paying for it is not the problem at all, in fact it’s preferred over a freemium model.

The practices I mostly refer to are:

• microtransactions in any context;
• requiring additional software (PSN overlay) that doesn’t support all platforms;
• PSN account requirement for a game that’s sold on Steam (have they forgotten about the shitshow that was Helldivers II?).

EDIT: history has also told us that paying upfront for a hero shooter doesn’t work out in the long term if the game wants any shot at being popular, just look at Overwatch’s failure to capitalize on it’s momentum by not becoming free-to-play earlier (and everything else wrong with Blizzard and their management).

That’s what happens when you mix a pile of abusive industry practices with an overall bad and iterative game that doesn’t bring anything new to the genre

Big tech can cheat the system by paying their taxes on countries in which they are lower, but when you try to do the same: