There are definitely dark patterns, dishonestly, manipulation to drive sales in F2P games. That's not a good thing.
However, most of the people criticizing this did not grow up poor. When I was a kid, there were a ton of video games I would have loved to play, but my family couldn't afford it.
Nowadays, everyone can play. The difference between the haves and have-nots are cosmetics. Better than that: in most games, the best cosmetics can often be unlocked purely (and only) by skill. A poor kid may not have as many skins or whatever, but they can still unlock things.
However, most of the people criticizing this did not grow up poor. When I was a kid, there were a ton of video games I would have loved to play, but my family couldn't afford it.
Nowadays, everyone can play. The difference between the haves and have-nots are cosmetics. Better than that: in most games, the best cosmetics can often be unlocked purely (and only) by skill. A poor kid may not have as many skins or whatever, but they can still unlock things.