Video games, especially AAA titles that are created by well-known studios can cost you quite a bit. If you want to play recently released games, you need to be prepared to pay for them at full price. Pirating may have crossed your mind since it lets you acquire games for free, but there are reasons why that's a bad idea.
1. You Might Get Malware
People can detect links with malware better now. Those "Click here for your free iPhone" baits no longer work for most. Because of that, threat actors are trying more clever ways to infect unsuspecting victims with malware, and many can be found all over the internet.
These don't just apply to movies, shows, or other media formats. Game installers can also hide malicious data that can corrupt not only your game files but other data on your PC as well. Worse, it can steal sensitive information from your computer.
2. You Won't Receive Updates
Video games, even ones that have been released years ago, still receive updates from its creator. Some games even get significant overhauls three years after its release. You'll be missing out on those if you don't buy from the official store.
You can always find an installer that has the recent updates, but it might not recognize your saved files so you'll have to start over and create a new load. Just know that since you're downloading through pirate sites, you get the game as is for as long as you play it.
3. It Might Not Even Work
There are a lot of steps that go with installing illegally downloaded games. Some are more complicated than others, and if you get it wrong, then the game won't load. It takes a bit of tech-savvy to navigate through more complicated processes.
When you download from official sites, all you have to do is purchase the game and click install. The important files will go to their appropriate folders, and you won't have to change anything for the game to run. You just have to open it to play.
4. No Steam Achievements
When you play games that you bought or downloaded through Steam, you might notice that achievement notifications appear at the lower-right of your screen when you reach a certain milestone like "30 Headshot Using a Sniper Rifle."
With cracked games, these acknowledgments won't be triggered. Sure, they don't really have value since they can't be converted to actual rewards. However, they help set goals for you that can make the game more fun and satisfying to play.
5. You're Cheating Honest Workers
It takes years to develop games, especially AAA ones that have a longer storyline or a bigger map. The same goes for other titles that are only worked on by a few developers since it's created by a smaller studio.
While piracy is a great way to flip off greedy video game companies, it also affects honest and hardworking developers working under them. It takes creativity and patience to work on entertainment that makes us happy for days if not weeks, and they deserve to get paid.
