PC platforms (windows and linux being the two primary ones used by gamers, out of thousands) allow full control and therefore allow piracy as a consequence.
I bought the damn box. That's my motherboard, my drive, my APU, my RAM. I should be able to do whatever the hell I want with it. If I want the Xbox to play Cave Story or Gran Turismo, and then hop on Call of Duty MW2 2022 one minute later, that is my decision. This is not just about piracy and nothing you've said here proves it is.
Statistically, people who pirate software or other media frequently (myself included), actually spend the most money on legally acquiring this media to begin with. We're the enthusiasts that these companies need to survive. Even when piracy does happen a good game usually results in the pirate eventually buying it legally anyway. The only reason I went out of my way to buy a PS4, sub to Playstation Plus, and pour the last of my paycheck into Sony's wallet just so I could play WipEout Omega, is because I pirated the original trilogy and enjoyed it. (and I own WO3 physically now too). I played an old build of Cyberpunk 2077 illegally (1.03, which still had the save file corruption bug) because I thought the game would be a buggy mess, but then I ended up liking it, so I bought it at full price. My Steam library has over 300 games in it and is worth a max estimate of 5000 USD. I am not the only one who has done this.
If Microsoft and their third party developers make their products accessible at a reasonable price and don't inject them with DRM malware then the majority of pirates will not even bother pirating it and will just buy the game. So far, they're doing well. They don't have anything to worry about.
Microsoft has been pushing for cross-platform releases between Xbox and Windows for years now with UWP games even sharing a single purchase and license between the two. Most Xbox games are cross-platform releases anyway that are already on PC. Microsoft doesn't risk any higher chance of piracy by fully unlocking the Xbox platform without a fee in the same way I can root my phone.
I'm thankful Microsoft at least offers Dev Mode as an option. It's a good compromise but it also has limitations and some people think those limitations are stupid. Simple as. You don't need to act like you've got a third eye and you're a saint because you don't care about it the same way we do.
PC platforms also frequently get shoddy ports if they even get the game at all. Part of the Dreamcast's problem was that the games it did get did not have to be purchased, which lead to less games, which lead to less sales. The PSP sold around what the GBA, PS3, and 360 sold with a significantly smaller attach rate for game sales and you can't try to pretend that isn't a result of how much easier it was to pirate on a PSP compared to pirating on those other platforms. How many of the games in question even come to Linux, one of the PC platforms you mention that allow full control?
My Steam library has over 400 games in it. My Xbox One library has over 250 games in it between OG, 360, and One games and that's just my digital stuff. I have over 1000 items in my PS3 download list but I also played entirely too much Guitar Hero and Rock Band back then. Yeah, I'm familiar with the concept of pirating things and also buying them. It's why I'm going to call BS on what you're saying here. I'll pirate a game on PS3 and buy it on PC or PS5, sure. I'm not going to pirate a game on PS3 and buy it on PS3, why would I? And why would someone buy GTA3 on Xbox Series S/X when they could side load Retroarch and play the PS2 version instead? And maybe they'll buy it on their PS5 as a backward compatible PS2 on PS4 release or in the Trilogy instead of buying it on Microsoft's store in the Trilogy. Why would Microsoft allow those emulators knowing it will lead to the whole thing being blown wide open like it was on the PSP? Because I remember when all you could do on a PSP was play emulators, and it wasn't long before you could play PSP games from your memory card too. And as I already mentioned, game sales just weren't the same on PSP compared to other hardware that moved similar numbers.
I was one of the people playing Tears of the Kingdom two weeks before the game launched. I knew where to get it, I found guides on how to get past the various issues the game had in Yuzu and Ryujinx at the time. I had it running at 1440p on my PC and 720p native handheld resolution on my Steam Deck, both at a stable 30 FPS. Yes, I still got the game on launch day for my Switch. I was glad to start over, the game is incredible and even in the 30 hours I put into it it was good enough I wanted to do it again. I also had every intention of buying the game before it leaked. So again, I call bs on the idea that most people pirating lead to an increase in sales. I don't buy the idea that piracy truly leads to any kind of noticeable increase in sales at all, like I said if anything you'll pirate on one platform and buy on another but you were still going to buy in most instances. I don't think you'll be able to tell me about too many other games besides Cyberpunk that you pirated and then bought on the same platform.
I do agree with the part about DRM and other issues, but even that isn't absolute. People in the know are more likely to support a game/developer/publisher that doesn't push DRM, but look at Netherealm Studios. Injustice 2 won't give you unlocks unless you have an internet connection, MK11 is the same and won't let you into like 70% of the damn game without an internet connection. MK1 is the exact same way, and WB actually has people buying into the lie they told on their FAQ page that MK1 doesn't require an internet connection, and why? Because technically you can play local versus, and if you don't care about unlocks you can do story mode and the arcade towers? Nah, that's some pretty damn restrictive DRM. MK11 was the best selling game in the franchise's history despite all that, too. Bring it up where fighting games are discussed and you'll start getting crap about how we all have internet in 2023 anyway, it blows my mind how people can react to "do you guys not have phones" like they did and then defend DRM like this. RE Village on PC won't launch without an internet connection, imagine how I felt about that when I sat down with my Steam Deck during my break at work and decided to play it. Another game with crazy sales and nothing but praise. DRM just isn't a real breaker to the vast, vast majority of people. As I recently learned talking to people about MK1, they don't even know what DRM is. DRM stops me from buying a game, after Injustice 2 and MK11 I'm not supporting MK1 and that wasn't an easy decision because I was really excited for it. I have that franchise's logo tattooed on me. But again, that's not most people. Most people don't know about or care about DRM.
And that brings me to my last point, most of these companies (especially the big ones) do not live off of the enthusiast. The casual gamer is where the money is. Street Fighter V was a game made for the enthusiast, it launched with nothing but versus mode and was made for esports. It took Capcom years of hard work and free content updates to turn that game's image around. Mortal Kombat 11, inferior as a fighting game to SFV in every way, out sold SFV more than 2:1 and SFV had a 3 year head start. Appealing to casuals wins, the enthusiast needs the casuals interested in the game to ever see more of their favorite games. This is why Street Fighter 6 took the Mortal Kombat approach to it's game content.
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