I've never looked at it that way. If you're serious about being a multiplatform publisher trying to grow your audience instead of extract payments from platform holders for exclusivity, you take a more long term view.
I would agree with this if Square was not so all-in on being a JRPG company.
Like if this were the days when they had things like Hitman or Tomb Raider then I'd agree because even if FF doesn't sell you have something else that sells there, but when all your things are some form of JRPG then you are faced with a very dire issue publishing on Xbox as that audience profile just doesn't exist there at all.
So far their attempts at diversification this gen are things like Balan Wonderworld.. Which kinda says it all imo.
These are both games that didn't sell that well even on PS and have many critics. They're both late ports, in the case of FFVII it's literally a PS4 game. Most people that own Xbox also own a PS4 and a PS5. They've probably already played this and probably already bought it. I know I have. Porting an old game isn't some instant band-aid when SQEX has fucked up everything else. Most people buying this are going to be buying this for the 2nd time and the game isn't even on sale.
Sega takes a longer view. Port everything. Do it for several years. Build a reliable audience. Get promo deals. Put stuff on sale. Make consistently good games. Over time your audience grows. Sega and Capcom did the same thing on PC. Acting like it's some huge deal to port these games is an embarrassment honestly for a publisher like SQEX. Tons of indies do it every day.
Sega has an entirely different pipeline though, one that is far cheaper to make too. They are also far more diversified in their offering than Square, and even then you'd argue that their big Xbox JRPG push has not really yielded numbers. Yes the Xbox marketing and money is great for those Persona remakes, but the majority of their sales on these things is still PS/PC, so they have not really made a dent there.
Square on the other hand is just not a serious company. They had a two-year-long blitz of producer interviews, statements and stage shows etc talking up their Xbox ports (which no doubt pissed off SIE leadership), and ultimately end up with these numbers is just incredibly embarrassing and was not beneficial to them in any way (even FF14 ended up doing next to nothing).
Late ports can make mad cash if the audience exists for it, just look at MS's numbers on former exclusives going to PS5, or how well Stellar Blade is selling on PC rn. I don't agree with this notion that late port = no money coming in.
Your number 1 priority is making an appealing game, and then prioritizing placing it on the platforms that have audiences that are looking for it. Same as it ever was really.
