I'm not arguing about the Patreon donation, but the “economies of scale” you said~! because no matter the size of your studio, in the end, what really counts is the profit margin, and no matter how you like to put it, the donation is part of that profit, for free, after all this is not an investment~!Most of the triple-A game studios don't have that luxury, because the profit margin is really really thin for them due to the high costs and Investment dividends~!
Triple-A studios are often their own publisher too with a profit margin of 50 to 70%, which is a lot in game business. 1/3 of total cost are spend on marketing only. Cyberpunk's development and marketing cost were about ~$321 million in total. Which is of course a lot and needs to be funded upfront first. But we shouldn't forget that CD Project was only the lead production studio and didn't develop the game completely in-house. Cross-production is totally normal for big studios and one of the reasons why Triple-A games are released nearly every year. An indie developer normally doesn't have this luxury.
Triple-A games are cash cows for game publisher and the reason why we get a new Call of Duty, FIFA etc. every year. Wouldn't they be highly profitable for the publisher, then we wouldn't see a new game every year. However, the studios behind those games barely survive, because the huge piece of profits goes to the publisher, their managers and shareholders.
Since big publisher and Triple-A studios have access to a pool of experienced workers and technology worldwide, they are able to (mass-)produce big-ass games for way less, which results in a price tag of $70 per copy (target price). An indie studio isn't able to compete with this price tag with an identical game, because it wouldn't even cover its production cost. It's the same like you would buy your eggs in your local supermarket for ~$2 and your local farmer sells them for $4.
In case of NLT and many other erogame developers they won't get rich from selling their game on Steam & Co. Those platforms are used for visibility only with the purpose to gather (new) supporters on Patreon to help to fund their next game (and equipment). Erogames are mostly sold below cost after a game is complete.