The article sounds like alex jones style of piecing things superficially together. The worship of ted kaczynski is also bothering, since his views are so banal and not even accurate. (technology is making human a creature of society? not really. We always was. Ask jesus what happens when you go against the grain).
Go play the latest ones and tell me that Ubisoft doesn’t have a team devoted to “retention”.
It’s game on top of game on top of game.
The main missions are spaced out in a way that they are not too close or too far apart. The “collectables” (an insult to the word) are spaced between “oh look at that” and “wtf, this region isn’t 100% yet, where the hell is that thing!?”, achievements are an absolute abuse of psychology to keep you playing long after the game stopped being fun, the loading screens, the “quick” travel, the “crafting” and component systems that have you doing the least fun repetitive tasks usually involving the decimation of wild animals.
The grind is out of control.
Seriously, go play Outer Wilds, then play an AC or other grindfest.
The only non-abusive games that are left are indies.
It isn’t Alex Jonesy to rip apart modern video games for their exploitive tactics.
Your farmer’s market stall gets big enough and you eventually get a suit telling you to “run lean” and “net30, we can push that to net60”, etc
Most recently FFVII Rebirth's critics have described the game as going "full Ubisoft" which definitely resonates.
I've found that while I am very susceptible to that loop of chasing loot etc a game sticks when it's mechanically fun (YMMV) which is why Monster Hunter and Souls/Elden Ring are my kryptonite. Ditto for Destiny which had quite fun gunplay