It generates massive sales.bjj hero said:
I, for example, would never had gotten into gaming in the first place, had I not gotten a pirated copy of Commander Keen back in the day.
That got me to pirate a couple of more games, and then some more, which eventually became an everyday thing.
Then I got a job and could actually afford more than maybe one game every other month.
And with piracy having made me passionate about gaming in general, a lot of my income went to buying games I liked.
I've burnt tens of thousands of dorra into gaming since.
This is a good read/video on the subject:
http://www.mindjack.com/feature/piracy051305.html