I don't think Adobe is exactly a good example here since they stopped selling one-off licenses altogether and only offer a subscription based model now.
The old model worked for decades though. For them and their user's, subscriptions offer a low cost entry point which was always a challenge at their full price point.
It worked for them because they kept releasing new version with new licenses, not updating Photoshop 1 in perpetuity.
And yet, that worked for their customers, and Adobe.
And now they are charging extra for colours people already had (Pantone fiasco).
Pantone is a weird case because they actually do something even if the colors don't change. You're paying for a guarantee, not a color. They have to keep apprised of changes in materials technology used in printing and manufacturing to provide that guarantee. There's a reason the company that bought it out is in the materials business.
It’s a weird case because they want recurring revenue for digital assets when they already have recurring revenue from the physical materials that are also regular recurring purchases.