This is during the era when the N64, PS1, SNES, Dreamcast or Sega Genesis were popular. Games back then were released physically via disc or cartridge, meaning distributors or publishers would've implemented anti-piracy (like Lenslok) measures onto physical copies but some knew how to tamper with anti-piracy if they have a computer using other sources of capturing data (floppy disks).

Also, games at the time were 'simple' to torrent but with a catch (dial up was still a thing at the time meaning downloads could take a while if you have a PC). Discs were more straight forward than "torrenting" cartridges (unless you have connections with the manufacturer on smuggling circuit boards). Like with movies, games that came on discs were "torrented" through CDs by using a PC.

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[–] neidu3@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago

It was reasonably common in the floppy disk era. Some games allowed you to play for a set amount of time, after which it asked you for something external to the game itself. Some examples I remember:

Dune 2 asked for some units stats that could be found in the games manual
Day of the Tentacle needed you to complete a battery blueprint sketch in game. The missing info could be found in the manual
Monkey Island 2 asked for a voodoo recipe. To find the correct measurements, you had to spin two overlaid sheets to align something, which revealed a value.

All of the above could of course be copied and/or guessed, but it did at least introduce some bar of entry.