[cas8]

If I use a stolen credit card to buy a code for your game, eventually there is likely to be a chargeback/refund processed when the credit card owner/company realizes that it was fraudulent. Chargebacks/refunds can sometimes be things that have real penalties associated with them and that can require time investment from you the developer to deal with.

Another, less concrete cost is that of incentivizing bad behavior. If I cannot sufficiently move a certain type of stolen goods, I'm less likely to attempt to steal that type of good again in the future. However, if people choose to pirate a game instead, the bad actor is not rewarded and might realize that he can no longer move that type of product.

[smsm42]

Yeah true but the problem with chargeback happens regardless of whether somebody bought the codes or not - unless they bought the codes with stolen credit card, and then the store selling it, not the developer, gets the chargeback. So I don't think this scenario applies here. Developers usually have publishers to deal with things like credit card charges.

[Tyr42]

But paying the people who steal the cards can only encourage them.