Game of Thrones Season 8 was pirated 54 million times around the world, breaking several piracy records in the process. According to a report, around 17.4 million people watched Game of Thrones legally, which is less than three times compared to the illegal views, making it the most pirated TV show of the year.
Game of Thrones Season 8 Piracy Hub
According to Muso, a digital-piracy tracking company, India topped the number of illegal views. India gathered 9.5 million illegal views of Game of Thrones season 8 on day 1. It was followed closely by China, with 5.2 million views. Several minutes of nudity and violence were also cut from the official Chinese version of GOT, which could be the reason why people resorted to illegal watching.
As for India, streaming services like HBO GO and HBO NOW are not available, hence it is likely that the huge number of illegal views are due to lack of options; Hotstar is the single option to stream GOT in the country.
Surprisingly, the United States came third in the list of pirating Game of Thrones. Almost 4 million Americans watched Game of Thrones illegally, despite a number of streaming options available.
Game of Thrones pirates
Unlicensed streams were the biggest source of illegal views, accounting to almost 76.6%. On the other hand piracy sites like Piratebay were only responsible for 10% of illicit views.
Despite various efforts, Game of Thrones always becomes a victim of illegal piracy. In 2017, the Game of Thrones Season 7 was pirated almost 1 billion times. Even back then, illegal streaming sites were a major source of pirating Game of Thrones.
It is a cause for concern because Game of Thrones is the most popular target for hackers, who hide malware files inside torrents and trick users. Even spending time on streaming sites makes you vulnerable to online attacks, according to a report.
It seems like digital piracy is an inevitable fate for everything popular. Only a single episode of Game of Thrones has been released and piracy activities are already sky high. Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 2 will be released on April 14, 2019, and it might break another record.
