one of the big reasons why they're pushing so hard for this always online shit is precisely because of the metrics

Go spend at least 8 hours playing one of these mainstream games, CoD, Fortnite, whatever. Look at the attire of all of the other players and the tiny percentage of it that is included in the base game. You'll see the reason for always online right there. The amount of money they have to making selling that cosmetic shit is absolutely mind blowing.