This feels like moving goal posts. Why does platform exclusivity exclude them from being considered in this discussion? They are still all very successful AAA games that have no microtransactions.
Because the disussion is taking place in the context of not-platform exclusive game with the article title talking about the number of concurrent Steam (ie. PC) players.
If you don't want to pay for hardware you don't get to own then console games might as well not exist.
"look at all the great non microtransaction filled games you can play"
"...if you happen to own those consoles"
Those games are only available if you own that specific exclusive platform, not to the general public on any mainstream platform, so are niche on purpose. They're not really available without an investment into a specific platform.
so in the discussion of 'look at all these amazing non microtransaction filled games' adding ones that require I spend $300-500 on their platform is relevant.
