Definitely the case with Genshin for example. Poster child for me for this new kind of game: always online (even if single player), low barrier to entry, designed to be addictive.
Let's be honest Helldivers 2 is a really good PvE game with AFAIK only cosmetics via microtransactions. It's not some addictive MMORPG to earn money from whales.
Whole issue here is not about game at all, but about Sony being player hostile company and just plain breaking some customer protection laws.
Micro transactions allow easier unlocking of functional upgrades via "warbonds" that you buy eith premium currency "Super Credits". This currency is easily available in game and I have unlocked all the warbonds without any micro transactions. Even if you do buy the warbonds, you still need to play the game to earn "medals" to unlock the items within the warbond.
All in all, it is a pretty reasonable and non-exploitative monetization and is about the limit for what I would tolerate in a game I already paid for.
I bought it to play with friends and haven't found it as addictive compared to other titles I got sucked into in the past . If anything, there is no pay-to-win and the gameplay doesn't change a lot as you progress. It's just a fun co-op with very spectacular chaotic clashes - social media notifications have more to do with slot machines than this game's ever been close to.
Not sure what you mean by modern, to me modernity started in the 1600s.
If you mean something like 'contemporary', then I'd like to mention that casino-like elements where rather common in the video game boom of the 1990s. Could for example listen to how old-fashioned Sonic sounded: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gsa_4s3CjmI
They arent designed for your fun necessarily, but rather addictive mechanism that keep you coming back.
Obviously dopamine from slot machine mechanisms and winning. Oxytocin from online gaming... These companies know how to make addiction.