I'm gonna try to cut through the waffle and take things back to basics.
PlayStation are here to sell hardware and software. This we can all agree. I'm leaving subs out for now to simplify things.
The aguments essentially boils down to:
2+ year PC ports negatively affects PlayStation hardware sales making PS5 useless
There is absolutely no evidence to suggest this. PS5 will outsell PS4 by March 2024 already ahead in the US
With no pandemic hardware sales would already far surpass PS4. Hardware sales are trending upwards.
Maybe not now but will hurt in the long term
While selling PC ports PS5 hardware sales have only trended upwards.
PC and Cloud destroyed the Xbox brand, PS making same stupid mistakes Xbox did the last 10 years.
PC day and date software destroyed Xbox and the brand. That decision killed Xbox and made the console useless.
2023 US Xbox hardware sales trending behind PS5 2-1 first time since PS2.
Being outsold 4-1 worldwide. PS5 hardware forecast to widen the gap going farward.
Xbox XS now selling behind Xbox ONE and already trending downwards year on year.
What a difference releasing PC day and date vs 2+ years later makes.
Now to help the sky is falling crew
@JAHGamer better understand what is happening think...CINEMA.
Its most analogous to what Sony are doing with ports.
Essentially its like arguing cinema film releases should stay in the cinema. And only the cinema "we should pretect its prestige."
Selling your film 2 years after theatrical release will make the cinema useless.
Selling your film 2 years after theatrical release will hurt the cinema long term.
Selling your film 2 years after theatrical release shows you don't value your film.
People might wait to buy the film making the cinema useless
People might pirate the film making the cinema useless
When VHS first released people may have said the above. Many decades later and saying it today would sound nonsensical.
Swap cinema to PS5, films to 1P games and VHS to PC ports and thats what your arguments boil down to. Much ado about nothing.