Not every game is an MMO requiring vast server farms. A game like the crew 1 that is past it’s prime is not expensive to keep a few servers running for. It’s a negligible cost.

They could also put in the time to give players the tools to host their own servers, or simply allow offline play. This used to be standard for all PC games. They chose to do neither of these things in an obvious effort to force players towards the sequel or their other games. They should not be permitted to do anti-consumer things like this.

On places like reddit, Lenny, etc where there is a vocal minority complaining about this. The vast majority of consumers don’t come on here nor do they keep themselves informed. They’ll grumble at the price a bit, then buy it anyway.