Haven't been keeping up with this recent debate, but here are my thoughts. If we see games as an artistic medium, I think it is fine if a developer doesn't want to add an easy mode to their game. They are really challenging games, that don't allow you to easily get around this challenge. So people who have played them, they have to either get accustomed to it, or not play. This is important to mention because these games are in a position to leave some kind of impact on consumer tastes. A movement, even if it is a small one. I don't know what goes through the head of the devs responsible for making those decisions, but I think it is a fair goal to want to make diffuclty like that more of a desired, popular element in gaming. And I feel the audience/niche of people who can enjoy that kind of thing has grown because of how these From games are.
We could probably say that if there were an easy mode, these games would be even more popular. Though in this theoretical scenario, arguably this could cause less players overall to have gotten accustomed to that kind of gameplay in the first place. I know if Dark Souls had an easier mode when I first played it, I would have never pushed myself over the hump to get adjusted to really enjoy that brand of challenge. I probably would have turned down the difficulty, if I even started on it at all. I can't imagine this wouldn't be the case for many others as well.
I find it valuable to step out of your comfort zone and get accustomed to new things in general, and I also apply this mindset to gaming. There are a few key games in the past I've tried that I didn't think were for me, I just took a leap. And whatdya know, I ended up liking them a lot after I gave them a fair shot. They opened my mind to more types of games, and artstyles. And maybe more importantly, it made myself more willing to try stuff out of my comfort zone, instead of always sticking to the familiar. I feel like this has enriched my enjoyment of gaming as a whole. Variety and surprise is the spice of life.
Basically. I'm not saying it's fine if he doesn't want to add an easy mode for the purpose of saying "fuk u noobs who need more accessibility". I just believe it is a valid artistic move. One that is arguably more effective in the goal of expanding horizons throughout the gaming sphere. That is, more effective than the hypothetical world where these games had easier difficulty modes all along would be.