@Koochi-Q As we've seen with tons of publishers, once a game isn't viable, or a rampant cheating situation causes people to flock away, they start laying off developers as if it were in fashion. Developers ABSOLUTELY have to worry about these things; the Publisher is not now nor ever going to bankroll operations on something that isn't pulling in profits.
The fines and jailtime are restitution for damages done. Nothing can prevent something that's already occurred from happening. They are a deterrent that should be publicized. When children have no connotation of punishment associated with bad behavior, they continue that behavior, because it rewards them at the cost of something they are oblivious to; other people's enjoyment and monetary investment.
So, Respawn had(?) 319 people as of 2019. A Google search of average salary shows $88-$120k. Yes, not all those are developers. But assuming even $70k as a average across all roles, that's 22.3M/year. If the game was sold at $60, that would mean 370,000 units need to be sold just to pay salaries. The game currently has ~9M players, all of which get the game for Free, and only some of which pay into the game.
Any lost business is lost potential of cash. Those 9M players would have to spend just $3/year to justify just Respawn based Salaries (let alone Studio expenses) But you'd be jaw dropped to see how many of those players have not spent $1 and won't. It's more precarious than you make it out to be. Especially when the dev lets it get out of hand and can't stem an influx of cheaters.
