...or even the possibility of not wanting to deal with retail stores.
Not wishing to deal with retail stores (I assume you mean brick-and-mortar stores, here) doesn't have a solid link to games-as-service, though. It's entirely possible to sell games as a product via online-only distribution, without entering the murky depths of games-as-services. See GOG for one example. Humble Store for another.
I tend to agree with previous posters - I see this as a low-minded and transparent attempt to move to a locked-in model, cutting off both the 'drain' of second-hand sales as well as the scourge of piracy. I don't think the former is something that deserves to be cut off, and I don't think the latter will see this as anything more than a minor speed bump (see: SimCity 5 for a particularly laughable example).
Ultimately, if you're selling me the game as a service then I expect the same rights that I would have for any other service (e.g. right to sue for misrepresentation), and I expect you to have the same rights that you would have (e.g. increased liability, for a start). I'd also expect pricing to react appropriately (e.g. I am not paying £50 for a 'service' that may or may not last me several months of entertainment value, whereas I might pay that for a product that I would own).
An example of the 'increased liability' expectation: if you sell me a game as a service (e.g. via Steam), and I attempt to log into that game and play it but am unable to do so because your infrastructure cannot handle the demands of many people logging in at once (e.g. SimCity again), then you have failed to deliver the service and I should be fully entitled to a refund, without any debate over the matter. Similarly, if you discontinue e.g. multiplayer servers for a 'service' that I have paid for, then I should be entitled to a refund (presuming you did not state at my time of purchase the date that you would discontinue that part of the service).
"We might close these servers down at any point in the future" doesn't count. By that logic, anybody pirating your 'service'
might choose to pay for it at any point in the future, too.
(Not condoning that logic, but if the cap fits...)