To be fair, only a handful of publishers were able to take their cards and go elsewhere. The media companies were a lot more on top of dragging their products off of Netflix.
Nobody would be on steam just for Valve games, after all, and indie has a much lower barrier of entry.
While they could certainly distribute their current products better, a lot of the issues they have now (see: belated frogs comment) aren’t things they really had control over.
Did you start with the original Yakuza? Kiwami has a couple things that would feel odd to a newcomer if they don’t play 0, and the only reason you’re skipping Majima Saga here until later is because you moved 0. If you start with 0 then all the context needed for Kiwami 1’s additions and Majima Saga are available.
Plus, to be fair, we have had a massive number of newcomers credit to 0. It’s probably the favorite in the series now.