I think the word "game" is overloaded in this context. There is an entire field called "game theory" which is basically just economics. Agents interacting trying to maximize reward and minimize cost. It's obviously more complicated than that to apply these ideas to real life, but that idea of a "game" is a key part of economics. This is why google auctions off keywords instead of just selling them for example. They make a lot more money with the game variation (an auction is a classic game example).
I agree though, as more and more commercial stuff ends up online, games of this nature will be used even more to maximize profits.