Modern games have been getting shittier, and with Denuvo claiming that many publishers don't renew beyond that 6-month period, it really doesn't change anything. The best period to buy (or pirate) a game seems to be 6 months to a year after release, when all the bugs that shouldn't be there in a finished product have been fixed, and Denuvo is not there either (or the game has been cracked anyways), it seems to me that the best time to play a game for anyone involved, is 6 months to a year after release. Also, for paying customers, the game would have likely gone down in value significantly and you might be able to pick it up second-hand for a significant discount, while also ensuring you don't support greedy publishers releasing half-baked, incomplete products. Problem solved.

None of the above applies to indie games, which I would feel more inclined to pay for, and genuinely find more fun nowadays.

But all of that is just my opinion on the matter.