Did you actually read my comment? They don't get the profit from the old game. The success pays for them to develop new games.

Asked the other way round, if the game's profit doesn't pay the devs, what does?

The company employing them

Why does the company employ them?

To make money

So what happens if the company stops making money? A game's profit doesn't pay the past developers, but it does affect their future employment and income.

I'm not defending the exploitative system that bleeds us dry for the privilege of getting to temporarily benefit from the wealth they've already extracted. I'm not opposing piracy. I'm very much in support of OP's strategy.

All I'm saying is that piracy won't fix that system, because the ones most dependent on the game's success aren't the exec's that'll be hired elsewhere nor the investors that'll extract their wealth elsewhere, but the devs whose employment and existence depends on their capacity to generate that wealth.

Attack the system at the top, but don't drop the bottom.