Much better than, say, working the TSA, a jobs program based on invading privacy under the ridiculous exaggerated thread of terrorism. I WISH those people would just stay home and play video games.
Maybe for a year. Then people will want meaning in their lives and would seek meaningful productive things to do that they want to do.
The reason people right now love gaming so much and often to an unhealthy degree is because its an escape from a life they don't like living but have no choice in because they are chained to a job to survive.
Yeah, for a lot of people living in Azeroth is still going to be more fun than living off 12k a year. Entertainment is made to be addictive, none of those dynamics you are talking about are going to change.
Maybe more twitch streaming, or more elite gaming as a result? I find that whole economy rather strange but then I remember that a lot of "work" these days is just shuffling imaginary money around.