Because it looks like the amount of in game credits players earn after winning races etc has been lowered in an attempt to steer payers towards the tokens.
This is why the "who cares, they're optional" argument is bunk. Sure, they absolutely can be optional, but how much faith do you really have in videogame publishers? There's money to be made in microtransactions, and if you've been gaming on PC or mobile over the past few years, you've seen just how developers/publishers can skew progression to push players towards purchasing microtransactions. Even when everything can be unlocked without paying extra, you're often faced with a pretty tedious and discouraging climb towards the top, along with frequent reminders to purchase PRIMO BUX or whatever they decide to call them. I don't really see this being any different with next-gen console games, $60 price tag or not.