that doesn't make sense. there are thousands of games without an economy that still keep players hooked for years. look at world of warcraft, for example.
a lot of money is pumped into good games without the players expecting anything in return, except the item they have bought.
WoW is a very different beast. I've not played it, but they ban bots and they suspend players for buying gold.
Introducing the SPS governance token came with some extra complexities, like if WoW players won Blizzard shares in game-play.
What does this have to do with anything besides WoW being so good that a black market emerged to sell in game items. That black market still exists by the way. It's further testament to how a game being good (and enduring) can drive a market for its goods.
the price for the spectral tiger is currently over 10 000 dollars. it becomes soulbound when used, people have no advantage in the game and can't earn anything with it and the in game economy is really fucked up!!!!! i think that's all you need to know to know that a good game makes more money than a game that only relies on economy.
now just imagine this spectral tiger would be an nft. the price would be even higher
and blizzard even sells gold itself. you buy a wow token from blizzard for fiat and exchange it in game at the auctionator for gold ;)
people spend masses of money there without the chance of profit ;)
I agree with your sentiment, though WoW does have an internal game economy and you've been able to buy and sell gold, items, and accounts for a very long time (still on ebay even) for fiat.
That said, these items don't have value because the game economy drives it. They have value because the game is fun and addictive and people are willing to pay for shortcuts to enhance their game play. The game in fact drives the economy.