Disclaimer: I am in no way encouraging or advocating for software piracy. The warez scene in 90s and early 00s was fun to follow. I consider the NFO files a legitimate form of art, not to mention the skills for unpacking and keygen-ing or cracking of the protected software. https://scenelist.org/
growing up in the 80s with a Commodore 64, my friends and I never bought any games. They were all "cracked by $some_cracker"
As a poor 12 year old they weren’t losing money. I had none!