The amount of money some GT players spend to set up a racing rig, makes me wonder if they actually can rival mobile racing games (the Asphalt games are a big example), and Sim Racing (since iRacing charges for individual things such as tracks and cars), in terms of being the most Consoomerist racing game franchise out there. You don't hear these stories about people spending that much in Forza, and even though The Crew games have microtransactions, surely people don't whale out in those games as much either.
In defense of IRacing - the entire point is that you buy your series. That's how the service stays afloat, and how it provides what it does. It's the standard for simracing, I don't blame them.
Your $12/mo subscription comes with like 10 cars and all the tracks needed for the rookie/intro series. Then, you decide what series you wanna do, and buy the car(s) and tracks accordingly. That's the point. You don't need to splurge out on every car and track, because that's not the point.
Forza does sell DLC car packs and map expansions, which are worth it for the price. They also constitute a small, small fraction of the car list.
The Crew has "crew credits" but not only did TC2 make it so you could buy the season passes with in game bucks, TC2 and TCM actively give out crew credits for events/rewards. The only thing you'll need them for is vanities, if you want them. The only car in TCM locked behind a pay wall is the chevelle.
GT7 doesn't explicitly lock any cars behind a pay wall, but has created such an insane grind that it may have well for the more expensive cars. Cars that have no events, that is. That's before you get into the people who gloat, again, about buying the branded wheel, PSVR2, Sony TVs, etc etc. You'll even get the occasional "thanks to GT7 I bought a brand new toyota/subaru/honda/insert japshit here"
