> Definitely not the same with movies and music which tells me they don't want it to be that easy.

It actually is, it's just called "streaming" instead of downloading*.

For a very long time, Netflix was the go-to place for any movies, and piracy was on the decline. Now all the old media companies (who have even bigger god complexes than game studios) are doing the exact same thing everyone in this thread is discussing with alternate launchers, and creating their own streaming services. And piracy is suddenly back on the rise. Only time will tell whether this will play out the same way as the OP, or whether the flexibility afforded by inherently streamable format will allow them to succeed in splintering where game studios failed.

*Two notes on this:

1) it's a benefit afforded by having a much more linear data format

2) despite what HN commenters may believe, it's only a small percentage of users that care about owning content rather than being able to conveniently access it)