Piracy

Source

My opinions on piracy is shaky. I try to not pirate, but some situations make it near impossible to get what I need without it, like research papers and articles, which I can't simply borrow from the library. I also don't like pirating books and music, as publishers can see that as the author or artists not making proper sells. At the same time, again, some books and music just aren't available, like they aren't being sold in my country. At that point, whether I pirate or not, they can't get my money.

As for games, I'm similar. I avoid pirating games from smaller developers because they're likely working with a small budget and the success of their game is very important to their growth.

But games made by AAA developers are iffier to me. On one hand, those companies tend to make a lot of money. On the other hand, developers can still be harmed. For example, Overwatch 2's story team got fired, and the developers were not given bonuses due to their game not selling well despite higher ups basically sabotaging their ability to make a good game. Other game teams in Activison-Blizzards have to make good money or else they don't get bonuses. On the better side, Capcom gave their employees bonuses for making a great game.