Microsoft is actually the least problematic of the console racket (Sony, Nintendo and MS), games release simultaneously to pc and they offer cross compatibility. Maybe the EU will address it eventually, but i guess mobile takes precedent given that everyone has a cell phone.
Ubuntu is based on Debian so regular Mint is actually 2 levels down from upstream. But Mint has started offering a Debian base recently called LMDE if you want to check it out.
As for whether Arch is bad for beginners. Kinda. It’s a DIY distro, assuming you can follow tutorials and guides it’s pretty straight forward, especially with the archinstall script. But if you’re uncomfortable with a terminal install, you can try out EndeavourOS which features a full gui install and a few tweaks to make it easier on beginners.
The cost is actually negative given that they get to pre-install whatever software they want into it.