Videogames piracy - Why so much hate?

[Napoléon]

The funny thing is, I've pirated numerous games before buying them, Minecraft being the most obvious one. If I'd have never pirated Minecraft I'd have never been interested in the game period, because I always just assumed it was for geeky 12 year old kids (it still kinda is I guess). So that's a sale they've got as a direct result of piracy. This is why I don't get why it's always equated with stealing. These companies aren't losing a damn thing when their game gets pirated. Not a thing. Nobody can comment on 'lost sales', just because someone pirates a game doesn't mean they would or wouldn't buy it otherwise. I'm sure I read an article not too long ago that predicted the amount of money lost from pirated content equalled more cash than was even in circulation. Obviously this is impossible, and obviously anybody predicting that these companies are 'losing sales' are talking out of their ass. Hence, it's not fucking stealing. At least not in the traditional sense of something being 'taken'. It's not the same as going into a store and stealing a physical copy. Not in my opinion.