What a game developer can do, depending how they have it working, is ban your account, or registration key from the game servers. Legally, they can go after you, just like the RIAA did, and sue the drawers off you, or if you are underage, your parents.

They can’t reach down into your computer and alter your system legally. Though I suppose they can probably make an argument for flagging your system so it can’t log in again, even with a new account and license key. I dont know that anyone does that though.

Back in the day when everyone had static IP addresses, people would get an IP ban – cutting them off entirely until they got a new IP.

It’s a vicious cycle. Game developers make titles, and cheap people get it pirated or counterfeit and the developer comes up with a better way to copy protect the disk. Pirates get past the new method, and it gets ripped again.

People who don’t care, get it ripped at little to no cost. People who pay for the title honestly get higher prices and more aggravating anti piracy crap on their systems to deal with. The more that happens, the more people who were honest start thinking about getting the pirated copy. Rinse and repeat.