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A handheld and highly integrated device where games released for are basically guaranteed to run still has some appeal over the wide sea of PC s. Especially since the share of handheld PCs like the Steam Deck is still comparably small.
I’d also argue that one can get more customers by supporting PC due to those who wouldn’t buy a console anyway. It sounds reasonable though that the incentive for buying a console is gone if you already have a sufficient PC where you can play the game on.
But I wonder whether this is really the case. Do we have actual numbers from market studies or alike on this?
Also, consoles are historically loss leaders. Lose a little money on the console, but make it back with the margins on your games.
Could be that modern game studios have just gotten too expensive for that model to continue, though.
Nintendo was the only company that ditched the loss-leader thing after burning itself with the N64 and GameCube.
Then went back. They kept that reputation because they now hide all those numbers. But the 3DS tried that and was so expensive that no one was buying it. After a price cut, that some speculate went into a heavy loss, it became the best sold handheld that generation. The Wii U was also unclear whether it was sold at a loss or not. The Switch and S2 are probably sold exactly at cost.
Then went back with not trying to target high end with the original switch, with everyone complaining that it was equivalent to a mid phone of the year