When COD Mobile (both Global and Garena) released in October 2019 - less than 4 years ago - it had 50 Tiers in the battle pass. I came back and it's 200 tiers now, which is insane.
It's especially shocking to see as one of the OG players of CODM - I played it since launch - to see firsthand just how desperate capitalism has become at squeezing the proles of as much money as possible at every possible level including something as mundane as gaming.
What would be your periodization of the "golden age of gaming"? Mine would start at the introduction of the consoles like the N64 and PS1, and the release Windows 95...then it would end with the coming of microtransactions. So that would be 2006 with the introduction of that horse armor in Elder Scrolls Oblivion.
This is not to say that I don't enjoy any games released after that though :p I built a gaming pc in 2011 mostly so I could play Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
Even sooner that microtransaction. With expansion packs for me. They understand that there is no need to sell you a full game and they can make you pay +60$ for everything called an "expansion".
While i loved expansions, they really were the start of the end lol
The so-called "Xbox 360" days (2004-2012?) so much socializing back then.
For me personally late Super Famicom to late PS1 was about my peak, but that is probably because I am really partial to JRPGs. Things like FFVI, Chrono Trigger, the PS1 FF games are all hard to top.
However, I think right now has its merits too. Yes we have some of the worst examples of exploitative business practices like in the OP, especially in the free to play realm. Microtransactions, premium currencies, time-limited battle passes with premium tracks, all that bullshit. It's all tuned to prey on vulnerable tendancies of people.
However, there are titles that aren't exploitative. Baldur's Gate 3 is a phenomenal example of that. The big "prestige single player games" that Sony has kind of made their thing generally don't bother me either, they give exactly what is advertised and don't really nickle/dime you past that.
It has also never been a better time for indy development and publishing. One-two people studios have the tools to create and publish really impressive games. There's a wider variety of games available now for every possible taste than ever before. I love factory games and there is a wealth of them coming out recently. Incidentally, I still recommend Dyson Sphere Program in that genre.