It's a double-edged sword, most of what 
Colludium says is the dark side of piracy (and very true!). However, there are many instances in digital media where piracy helps, such as creating popularity or selling franchise products like t-shirts and similar physical objects that end up making more money than the media itself (I think Game Of Thrones was one of the shows that made the most profit from pirates of the episodes versus standard customers, but I can't find where I read that at the moment)
For game devs, I'd say piracy only helps when you're a small dev who nobody knows and the people pirating it don't try to resell/claim ownership. Kind of like bootleg in the cassette tape recording days where friends share music and generate word-of-mouth about the band.
In the end, it's about how much you're willing (or able) to give away for free while still being able to do what you love. If someone doesn't make their game free/open source/etc, then there's a reason they didn't and there should be some respect given to them. I think this is why some indie devs also have an option for people to donate, who feel that the developer deserves way more than what they get from sale costs of the game.