Yes, I am not preaching on anything, I’m just expressing what I observe. Creators can only go so far for so long, eventually they are forced to drop it and look for something else to feed their families.
We all deal with this dilemma.
Remember that game engines are also pirated, not just assets.
Music, movies, animations, comics, painting softwares, dcc tools in general, if it can be downloaded it’s going to be pirated online.
Every company or individual artist end up looking for alternative source of income…
Media, often rely on merchandise products to turn a profit (action figures, t-shirts, live shows, limited dvd, posters, etc).
There’s not much a small Unreal creator can do in that direction to recoup losses and damage caused by pirates.
So, many simply give up.