Curious piece by @johnnemann on the disadvantages that short niche games have on Steam. I believe this is true for all current digital stores, not only games. And in turn it indeed changes creators behaviour.
Spotify encourages to release tracks faster and more often. As a result we get more singles and remixes. Apple and Google stores encourage free apps that are monetized by either in-app purchases or subscriptions. Paid apps with single purchase are a fraction of the market. Certain types of apps and games are almost gone from mobile.
The dynamics favour continuous delivery of content which is preferably paid by micro-transactions or feels like free (read: is subscription-based). And in the end, that is all about user engagement.
Consumers prefer those changes, so the current model is here to stay. And niche/short/not “modern” product will have less exposure at the time when the stores will continue to capture as much of attention as they can.
I obviously don’t know the answers, but in general i feel the market in addition to current stores will find a new model that will be better suited for creators of niche content. Because the demand is real.
If i had to guess, i would say that it will be a patreon/only fans/kickstarter like model where customers don’t pay for specific games but follow/subscribe to favourite developers with monthly payments and developers are creatively free to make whatever they wish.