What's your motivation for buying games instead of pirating?

A realistic look at Reddit piracy discussions for Steam games – what’s useful, what’s risky

Reddit, a decentralized social news aggregation site, has become the world’s largest open forum for piracy discussion. Despite repeated copyright takedowns (DMCA) and subreddit bans, communities like r/Piracy and r/CrackWatch have thrived, amassing millions of members. This paper investigates the motivations behind the continued appeal of piracy in the Steam era, analyzing how Reddit facilitates a unique subculture that views itself as a necessary balance to corporate control, rising costs, and digital preservation.

Steam Users Beware: The Dark Side of Piracy on Steam