When did we decide to start calling online multiplayer games “Games as a Service”? This feels some weird branding tactic to get investment funds to apply tech industry growth expectations to gaming
Multiplayer games don’t fall under GaaS when the publisher funds matchmaking solely from the one-time purchases of the game and doesn’t invest beyond making sure it runs until sales have dried up. Though, there’s some blurring when expansions become frequent enough that they start to look like recurring revenue.
There certainly is that reframing of publishers to attract investors but it’s reflected in business model and design changes in the portfolio of games.