While I agree paying out based on time spent may incentivize games into poor behavior, I think there are ways to account for that (e.g. weeks of the month the game was played more than an hour or two total). Greatly reducing the up-front investment to try out a game allows for different types of games to find an audience.
If I have to pay $20 to try out some indie title, I might put it off a long time until it's on sale or never try it. If it's already included in a subscription I pay for, I might try it early or right after hearing some buzz about it. More people jumping in on that buzz can create a wave of enthusiasm that greatly increases the reach of the game that wouldn't happen if a similar number of sales trickled in over an extended period, which might increase players (and possibly sales on other platforms) more than otherwise.
It's been noted many times in the past, some of the big breaks for indie studios were when they got accepted into these programs or ones like it.
If I have to pay $20 to try out some indie title, I might put it off a long time until it's on sale or never try it. If it's already included in a subscription I pay for, I might try it early or right after hearing some buzz about it. More people jumping in on that buzz can create a wave of enthusiasm that greatly increases the reach of the game that wouldn't happen if a similar number of sales trickled in over an extended period, which might increase players (and possibly sales on other platforms) more than otherwise.
It's been noted many times in the past, some of the big breaks for indie studios were when they got accepted into these programs or ones like it.