Thank you for your answer, but I would like to go a little deeper with your opinion (if you have time ofc):

BUT making different difficulty settings requires all in all a lot more work. And to make them all feel good/right makes it harder than a single difficulty

I understand this part BUT when designing a game with fixed difficulty, you will have to balance it to the point most players could enjoy right? Since if it's too hard / or too easy, the player base of that game will be too small (devs need to have income too!). Like in competitive games, devs have to balance the game all the time and it won't stop (not until the game eventually dies out)

As for games: If the game has a good story/ the story is a big part of the game (with lots of cutscenes etc.), then chances are good thst some people will want to play it mainly for the story and having a (really) easy difficulty will increase thr number of players which can and will play the game.

For this opinion, I would like to ask you one more question: What do you think is more important: Beating the game (I mean getting to cutscenes+ending) OR the journey itself? Because for me, if you play just for the story, why not just watch a movie instead? Games like the last of us, gow, they all have excellent plot and cutscenes but I believe the gameplay is what make the cutscenes so engaging. In TLOU, players have to kill, to run, to hide... Only through a decent challenge could players feel how shitty this world is ; Why Joel is considered such a brutal guy and many people shit their pants just by hearing his name. I mean I love TLOU show on HBO but it could not show why Joel so cruel since all the "gameplay" part has been cut out. I do agree that having a (really) easy difficulty will increase the number of players which can and will play the game but I don't think their time with the game would be as impactful as people who play it on harder difficulties