Quote Originally Posted by omega1alpha View Post
Wow. This guy is not only a math wiz, but he's a psychic as well. He actually assumes all these people who downloaded this beta would actually pay $60 for this game if they couldn't get it for free.
Most of the people currently downloading/playing the beta would have probably done the same after launch anyway so nothing lost there. What's lost is launch day hype which has now been replaced by leak hype. There's some population of people who have come across the free version because of all the (relatively) mainstream coverage and publicity of the leak and wouldnt have otherwise because they're not regulars on the piracy scene.

Can't find the statistic now but IIRC launch day/week/month sales account for a huge chunk of a title's revenue over its lifetime. If that initial rush of purchases is dampened by an early leak like this it could certainly mean millions in lost revenue.