If your question involves keeping people playing, fundamentally it is. The core game mechanics will heavily influence how often people play a particular game.
If your question is whether or not subscription based models result in more profit than microtransaction based models, then that’s a bit different. Either model can be made to work with a variety of game mechanics. What we more and more see is some combination, whether that’s specifically a subscription or just seasonal purchases like expansions or sports games.