Sure pirated games run that risk but communities are big enough to usually snuff it out quickly if it’s a malware filled crack.

Big time. Even rumours of a repackers adding malware blow up on communities like this.

Core characters in the repack community also occasionally ask for and receive donations. I’ve donated to DODI, FitGirl, and Gnarly. Hopefully they receive enough to discourage them from anything malicious but they’re also adored and respected by the community.

Going through legitimate means a PC gamer is likely to have steam, epic games launcher, blizzard launcher, EA, Ubisoft, and probably more I can’t think of. Many of these are clunky and slow and demand online connectivity or multiple sign in auths every time you just want to play a damn single player, offline game

I purchased a Call of Duty title recently and that was a big thing. The amount of ads in the launcher was wild.