As I sit down to review my facts and write this article, I am once again overcome by feelings of anger, helplessness and indignation. Ladies and gentlemen, I have been robbed. You have been robbed as well, you just don’t know it yet. No, I’m not talking about taxes. This time around, all of us calling ourselves “gamers” have been wronged by a person who probably imagines him or herself to be a mighty pirate, but in reality is nothing but a contemptible thief. I am talking, of course, about the recent theft of Crysis 2 from its developer, Crytek.

So what actually happened? According to certain forums, a near-final build of the game, which included both single-player and multiplayer, was stolen. To make matters worse, a master authentication key is believed to be lost as well. Apparently all of the above is now being made available via torrents, and a lot of dishonest and not particularly intelligent people are both downloading and seeding it. Screenshots and videos of Crysis 2 abound, and publisher Electronic Arts has released a statement condemning the criminals and reminding all of us that “Piracy continues to damage the PC packaged goods market and the PC development community.”

Before I go any further, I think it’s necessary to mention that part of the blame lies with the company itself. This is not the first time something like this has happened, and everyone knows that theft is a reality that we all have to acknowledge. It’s the job of the corporation to safeguard their assets. We don’t know who stole the game, but whether it was a hacker who broke into the network or a dishonest employee who carried a CD out, there should have been a system in place designed to prevent this from happening. Now, however, the matter is out of Crytek’s and EA’s hands. At this point, the actors in this drama are not the company or the thieves, but us.

I’ve written on the topic of software theft in the past, and I will not reiterate my position. I would, however, like to use this as an example of how this “piracy” is harming us as gamers. The immediate harm is, of course, to the publisher and developer. Thieves don’t buy games (despite their claims to the contrary), and so the money is lost to all of the people who worked hard on these games. So how does it affect the rest of us? Well, after losing money, would you care to imagine what the developers are likely to do next? They will abandon the PC platform, as many have done, and switch to consoles. The notion that console games do not get pirated is a deeply flawed one, but nevertheless popular.

“All right,” some criminal might say, “who cares about PC gamers? They are a bunch of elitist jerks anyway, and so they can suck it.” This sentiment is not new, and is the very reason why I refer to those who participate in this thievery as unintelligent. PC gamers, or more specifically, the companies that cater to them, are nearly solely responsible for the technical advancement of video gaming in general. If it was not for companies like Crytek, Valve and id Software, there would hardly be any innovation when it comes to visuals and the hardware that supports these visuals.

No new developments in terms of graphical engines will mean no progress in video cards, no improvements of the existing technologies and no invention of new ones. Those of us who are content with the current level of graphics in games may not think it’s such a bad thing. Then again, some people were content with stone tools, the Ptolemaic system and steam engines. The majority, however, understand the importance of technological advancement. We also understand that causing direct financial harm to the innovators is no different than causing grievous harm to progress itself. Once those programmers, scientists, engineers and artists are forced away from their drawing boards by criminals, the industry will stagnate.

Of course, graphics are not all. There are plenty of awesome games that use graphical engines of 20 or 30 years ago. Keep in mind, however, at some point those old graphics were considered an amazing technological breakthrough. Someone brought them to the consumers. It was the same kind of people who today work for AMD, nVidia, Intel and others. And a lot of times they are spurred by the gamers’ demand for better, prettier, more realistic visual experiences. If PC graphics were to disappear altogether, consoles would certainly try to pick up the slack, but with hardware life cycles longer than seven years (and possibly as long as 10), the rate of innovation will slow down twenty-fold.

I cannot stop anyone from downloading, but I have this to say: if any of you were thinking of stealing Crysis 2, please reconsider. Do not cheat the industry and all of the talented, dedicated and hardworking people who bring you the games you love. Do not backstab millions of other gamers who share your passion for this exciting and illuminating pastime. Do not slash the tires of technical progress that benefits all of us and provides the foundation for the developments yet to come. If you ever dreamed of the future and all of the great things that it can bring, please, do not steal the present.