There are plenty of examples of great games both on the PC platform and on consoles that are 100% free to play with different monetization options to support the developers.
Fortnite, Warframe, Path of Exile, Runescape, Brawlhalla and many other titles are doing great financially. Thriving communities are all over these games and they support them because they are just fun games to play and the communities want to see the game grow.