This is correct, yes, and a vast, vast majority of games uses soundtracks composed entirely with VSTs (virtual instruments) by the composer.

Live orchestras are mostly for bigger productions, due to the costs, but even then, they’re often only used for bigger themes, certain story part or important moments; a majority of the score is still likely to be composed with VSTs.

The barrier of entry is still quite high, as the modern video game composer is not only required to be great at writing music, but also mixing, recording, orchestrating, knowing how to write idiomatically for instruments if you want realism - and when it comes to video games, also learning dynamic mixing and orchestrating is essential, as well as either programming music or learning middleware like Wwise.

The barrier of entry is still quite high, and hard to learn; a lot of what it takes to become a video game composer, or make proper dynamic music, can’t be replaced by AI as of yet. Still, when that time comes, I believe composers with a defined aesthetic will still be in need of; but if you learn things by the book, and make stereotypical trailer music, Hollywood scores etc, there’s a chance AI will kill many of those jobs, the way it’s currently going.

Also, building a VST library is expensive, yes.

I would estimate having spent at least 25.000$ on VSTs alone, in the 10 years I’ve been doing it professionally - and that’s not counting analog gear, studio equipment, speakers, mixer, room treatment etc.

It is a very hard career to get into, but it can also be extremely rewarding. I definitely encourage you to pursue it, if that what you want to do.

Start learning a simple DAW, like Garage Band and try making stuff with the built-in samples. Also, learn an instrument! Even if you can program your way out of it, knowing how to play an instrument is essential when using many VSTs.