I view this is a giant red flag that will drive a lot of potential single player people away, but I guess it’s a common enough thing most people aren’t too worried.
When I brought it up, the discussion got derailed by an incorrect belief that Minecraft can’t be played offline and then the thread moved on.
This does mean that you won’t be able to use local single player as a fallback when steam auth is down on Tuesdays etc as well.
Anyway, you’re right that it’s an indicator that they don’t intend for local universes to be an exit strategy.