Yes, that's what is happening; there are alternative.
I've seen a conf by an indie game dev who said he did not like microtransactions for his games, so all his games were pay-to-buy-then-play.
If he's fine with that, sure!
I'm pretty sure some artists out there make albums just because they like the process and they never do any shows. It's fine too.
@Almo I suspect that even if you have a disc with your game on it, and you try to install it after some years, there is a chance that the CD-Key could not be validated correctly because the DRM server has been shut down.. :P
Like when you play an Assassin's creed game after 4 years, no multiplayer features are available..