I had to look it up but $70 translates into £55 which is roughly standard for the base edition of a new game these days, with special additions being up to double that.

My recent game purchases have included Final Fantasy XVI, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Diablo 4 and The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom, all of which cost me between £50 - £100 to acquire them in time for launch day.

They're all from different companies and have differing monetisation practices but the presence of such doesn't make them utterly terrible in an industry unfortunately very reliant upon them.

Besides, the first thing I see when I open up the FFXIV launcher is a huge advert for the latest mount to be added to the cash shop.