Looks like people are going to lose all their games, unfortunately.

xbox is doing this the correct way. You own the Xbox 360 GWG games forever, and the Xone games will probably be carried over to Xbox two via full backwards compatibilty.

Don’t they work even when not online? I think I’ve played them when offline before if they’re already downloaded

I believe the expiry date is built in (Ex. 364 days remaining) that's why they're playable offline. Once this date is skipped they'll be automatically locked unless Ps+ is renewed. It is unsure what happens though when online servers are completely shut down and a PS+ membership becomes redundant on the console. 

Wrong, it is a subscription service.

Wrong, it is a digital distribution platform with DRM. Just like the PS store.

... if those games are playable without all those online patches and if you don't care about DLCs and online modi.

The differences between digital and physical games get smaller every year.

This.

I think they will remove those older games from the PS+ service, probably gradually. Like how Netflix removes movies and shows from their service, to make room for new stuff. If you've already downloaded it, then great you can still play. If not, you won't be able to download it anymore. That is my guess as to how it will play out.

Poof.

That's why I buy physical when I can.

People need to realize that digital retailers such as PSN/Steam/XBL are licensing/subscription services rather than permanent content providers ... 

If you specifically read their EULA's, you'll a see statement that says that they can revoke your right to access the said content or something similar ... 

Even speaking primarily as a PC gamer, I still see the attraction behind physical copies because there exists legally recognized rights to be able to fully own the copy of the content itself rather but this is not so for the vast majority of digital copies containing the said content ... 

I can understand not being able to access online components of a game without an internet connection because the game client relies on server side code but I'm not going to deal with always online DRM garbage for content that could easily be accessed offline ... 

TL;DR: Fuck PS+ Games, Game with Gold and Steam along with the rest of the bullshit digital retailers ... (until I can truly "own" digital copies I am going to stick with physical for the games I truly perish on PC and if space is an issue I am MORE THAN WILLING to pay extra to store a "complete" edition of those games in USB drives or SD cards)

As long as the console can check if you have an active subscription the PS+ games should work. For example, the PSP store is gone and as far as I know the PSP will still play PS+ games. I would verify this right now but both my PSPs have CFW so I don't fancy updating. I'm sure my brother has my PS+ games on his PSP and has played them recently though. Not many PS+ games were on PSP but at least the Crash Bandicoot games were in the UK in 2011.

If Sony were to take PSN down or for some reason prevent a console from authorising itself then the games would be gone.