That's true, and it also doesn't deny infinite other things. I don't think there's any reason to think it will require an internet connection though. None of their other games do. I don't even think you need to be online to play Natural Selection 2, which almost only exists as an online game.
Whew, I heard from a friend it was going that way. The Devs say in the article that they just meant it would recieve occasional content updates like they did with with the first game in their early access model.
They confirmed that it will not have any subscriptions, or battle passes or anything which is great. They also mention that while coop will be possible, it won't be required to play the game, and you can still experience everything single player.
Glad to hear they haven't joined the dark side yet!
They should really stay away from the dirty word of Live Service / GaaS in that case!
They should have gone with something like "We plan to support the game for years to come". This model is well respected with games like Terraria and Minecraft that just refuse to stop coming out with free updates despite having no subscription model. Klei has done this with a lot of their games, Don't Starve, Oxygen Not Included come to mind.
Everyone loves seeing new content for a game that they own, even if it's just little things, QoL or a new item or two.
Hell, AoE2 still has support with Definitive getting patches all the time, and it's decades old at this point.