Videogame piracy figures show decline
2011 torrent abuse exposed
Videogame piracy may be in decline, according to a study investigating which games were illegally downloaded the most last year.
The annual report from TorrentFreak sees Crysis 2 take the centre podium in the PC realm after it was illegally downloaded roughly 3.92 million times. Modern Warfare 3 was close behind, followed by its FPS rival Battlefield 3, although both were launched much later in the year.
Nintendo's Super Mario Galaxy 2 topped the Wii list for a second year running, while Gears of War 3 pipped all else in the Xbox 360 department. Figures for pirated PS3 games were not included, as the platform sees considerably less torrent abuse, likely due to the ruthless nature of Sony's security protocols.
TorrentFreak claims the number of downloads - at least those of top-tier titles - is slightly lower than last year. Could this be the result of services such as Valve's Steam or EA's Origin, offering hassle-free access to downloads for more reasonable prices?
Crysis... What Crysis?
The Steam client in particular broke the 5m concurrent user mark this week, a sign that an increasing number of people are turning to such platforms to amass content. Whether that directly affects piracy remains to be seen.
Either way, piracy will continue to be a concern for publishers, even if this is the start of a positive trend in the abolition of illegal torrent abuse. Check out the list of the most popular pirated games in 2011 below. ®
Top 5 Pirated PC Games
1. Crysis 2 - 3,920,000 (March 2011)
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - 3,650,000 (Nov. 2011)
3. Battlefield 3 - 3,510,000 (Oct. 2011)
4. FIFA 12 - 3,390,000 (Sept. 2011)
5. Portal 2 - 3,240,000 (April 2011)
Top 5 Pirated Wii Games
1. Super Mario Galaxy 2 - 1,280,000 (May 2010)
2. Mario Sports Mix - 1,090,000 (Feb. 2011)
3. Xenoblade Chronicles - 950,000 (Aug. 2011 EU)
4. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean - 870,000 (May 2011)
5. FIFA 12 - 860,000 (Sept. 2011)
Top 5 Pirated Xbox 360 Games
1. Gears of War 3 - 890,000 (Sept. 2011)
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - 830,000 (Nov. 2011)
3. Battlefield 3 - 760,000 (Oct. 2011)
4. Forza Motorsport 4 - 720,000 (Oct. 2011)
5. Kinect Sports: Season Two - 690,000 (Oct. 2011)
COMMENTS
"....that is always in memory, slowing down my PC and constantly using my capped broadband connection."
You've not thought to uncheck the "load on startup" box or right-click the tray icon and hit "Exit" then?
Nonsense figures again
Yet again, we see a host of nonsense figures. The software houses will be screaming out about lost revenue etc.etc. Is every download a lost sale......of course not. Have they correctly counted all the downloads.......only if they know about every copy of the game online, which absolutely will not be the case.
So, the reality is, these figures tell us absolutely nothing at all. They could be massively too high or massively too low. All we do know, is that we don't know. Until these nonsense figures stop being bandied around (both by individuals and companies) can the sensible debate start. Until then, it's just one side trying to scream louder than the other.
I've heard there are ways of buying things using the computermachine
Apparently they bring the stuff to your door and you don't even have to leave your seat to do it.
Presumably these were just rumours, and Amazon/Netflix/LoveFilm/Tesco Direct/Asda Online etc don't really exist.
Origin? Hassle free? Origin is probably why Crysis 2 has the No 1 spot, and why Battlefield 3 is so high. A buggy, god-awful piece of software that should never have seen the light of day.
As for MW3, people probably couldn't see why they had to buy another copy of CoD4 for the 5th time.
So if DRM works....
If DRM works, then why would millions of people torrent software which they presumably can't use?
If the people who torrent said software can use it inspite of the DRM, then what's the point of the DRM ?
