Contradictive statement?
No.
Broadening the appeal by selling less consoles than ever and by buying franchises already available on PC/mobile/consoles and making them available on...PC/mobile and consoles
Broadening the appeal of the Xbox brand by OWNING these franchises now. The Xbox brand becomes more famous on multiple platforms.
2023:
"Activision-Blizzard-King made a lot of successful blockbuster games on multiple platforms."
2024 - * :
"Microsoft makes a lot of successful blockbuster games on multiple platforms."
1-3 millions for games that sold 20+ millions on consoles is nothing. You named the biggest ones, the rest is struggling and flopping badly. Where is this big untapped PC market? They absent. No show.
20+ million copies after it launched as a NEW game on their target platform where their veteran community is.
1 - 3 million for OLD games on a new platform.
Remember how much God of War, Sly Copper, Killzone, Syphon Filter, Ico, Resistance, Infamous or Jak & Daxter on PS2- PS3 sold? 1 - 4 million copies. You start small and then you grow. Not every Sony game sells 20+ million copies on PS5. Ratchet & Clank sold ~1 million copies after 1 1/2 months on PS5. Returnal sold ~500k copies after 3 months on the PS5.
Not every game is Uncharted, God of War, TLOU, Spider-Man, Horizon, Ghost of Tsushima. Not every studio is Naughty Dog, Santa Monica Studio, Guerrilla or Sucker Punch. PlayStation Studios currently has only 4 studios that can make 15 - 20+ million sellers.
You have the worst business sense this side of Phil Sphincter, but it's not as bad as a service that offers access to over 100 mediocre games, all the benefits of Xbox Live Gold (valued at $0) and an EA Play membership for one outrageous monthly price.
Jim Ryan and Sony Group's BOD have good "business sense". That's the reason why PS5 keeps growing and is more successful than ever before. They know that PC & Mobile are markets where PS can make a lot of money. They want to expand. It's the reason why Take 2 bought Zynga and why Microsoft bought Activision-Blizzard-King. Meanwhile you're console warring on a gaming forum. Be better.
Microsoft acquired ZeniMax Media, Activision, Blizzard, KING and another 15 dev studios. Studios/publishers with a ton of popular and successful IPs. The days of "Microsoft only makes mediocre games" are over.
Sony can never genuinely challenge Microsoft in the PC space as long as Microsoft are the ones who own the predominant OS for PC gaming, Windows, AND the predominant API suite for PC game programming/development, DirectX.
That doesn't matter. In the end it's all about the games. And you can't just ignore the PC market where games like Destiny, Marathon, God of War and TLOU could make a ton of money. Be present. Be successful. Grow. Expand your brand. It doesn't matter if another publisher is more successful, as long as you are successful too.
Maybe refresh on what Microsoft's goals were for entering gaming originally, and how they never gave up on those main goals. It wasn't mainly to "rule the living room" by having the most popular gaming brand with the cool factor among gamers. It was to make their OS and gaming APIs the undisputed picks in the gaming scene, and through that, force companies like Sony to adopt their tech no matter what.
Sony making a big focus on PC without even their own storefront/launcher is a much bigger win for Microsoft than it is for Sony, and that's all due to Microsoft's years of monopolistic growth for Windows and DirectX in the PC space during the '90s and '00s, cementing them.
Some of the best decisions Sony ever made made is to NOT make their own storefront/launcher and to not enter the movie streaming wars
in a big way like Netflix, Apple, Disney, Peacock, Amazon, HBO and Paramount+ did.
Look how much success Microsoft had with their storefront on PC. Or Epic. Or GOG. No one can rival Steam. There is a reason why Microsoft thought about acquiring Valve.
It is what it is.