The answer is subsidized consoles. Microsoft and Sony are already moving there with the paid online experience. They just need to codify it into a 2 year contract.
Consoles are typically subsidized. Only Nintendo prices their consoles so they make a profit on them from day one. Both MS and Sony subsidize console sales at the start of a new console generation, trusting to game sales and licensing for their profit margins. Eventually the cost of the hardware comes down and they usually end up making a slim profit on it, but that's not typically where they assume to make their money from.
