I honestly believe the market will get there eventually, it's a lot easier for a teen to justify a 18 dollar subscription to a parent than a 400 dollar console/PC
The problem is it's $18 today, during a period of loss leading behavior from the incumbents. When this technology needs to become profitable, it'll be vastly more expensive than it currently is. ie. the "Uber" effect.
Think about it... exclusive access to a 4090 GPU for up to 5-8 hours a day for $18? Isn't going to happen. The electricity alone will cost more than that to operate over a month.
That does not even factor in a relatively expensive high-bandwidth internet connection that a lot of the world doesn't have... and you still need a device capable of consuming 1080p, 1440p, or 4K content in near realtime - ie. it still has to be a relatively capable system.
The economics are dubious, to say the least. Emerging markets without a lot of average household disposable income is probably where this type of service will excel - and even there we're already seeing price increases and cuts to maximum daily playable hours.
