I am a programmer in the game industry. Games I have worked on have sold millions of copies. That said, I've pirated plenty of things when the convenience made up for the dubious morality of it. I'm not proud of it or justifying it but that's how it goes.

Since Steam took off, I haven't pirated a single PC game. In fact, I've only played a third of the games in my Steam library because the sales have made it so easy and enticing to buy on a whim. Close the convenience gap and offer extra benefits and you can easily turn most normal middle-class adults like myself into happy paying customers.

> Downoading a pirated pre-release, under-polished version of a game is getting you a sub-par, less fun version of the game and thus undermines the very reason to play the game: to have fun.

That is correct. But if you think this will prevent most fans who have been eagerly waiting for the game then you are mistaken. It's the short-sightedness of human nature.