You are set in your mind that those cosmetics wouldnt happen without microtransactions but the truth is that many games were made and still are where cosmetics aren’t held for ransom and the return for that exists in customer fidelity but ofc all AAA studios only care about immediate profit, gotta appease the share holders. As an example, witcher 3 had free cosmetic dlc.
You are set in your mind that those cosmetics wouldnt happen without microtransactions but the truth is that many games were made and still are where cosmetics aren’t held for ransom and the return for that exists in customer fidelity but ofc all AAA studios only care about immediate profit, gotta appease the share holders. As an example, witcher 3 had free cosmetic dlc.