The burden of the Iron Throne still follows HBO's Game of Thrones as its lasting popularity has led the fantasy series to become the most pirated television series in 2022, three years after its finale.
According to USwitch's Piracy Report, Game of Thrones is still popular on most piracy sites, garnering 8,650 searches a month for illegal streams in 2022 so far despite airing its series finale in 2019. During its initial television run, Game of Thrones skyrocketed to become the most pirated television series overall, the ripple effects of which are still reflected in this most recent piracy report.
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Despite the lukewarm fan response to Game of Thrones' eighth and final season, the general buzz around the franchise has remained intact. The upcoming spin-off House of the Dragon, a prequel series following the Targaryen dynasty, has ranked among the most anticipated new television series of 2022. Beyond House of the Dragon, HBO has planned several other series set in the world of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels, including a spin-off following fan-favorite character Jon Snow, which will star Kit Harrington.
Game of Thrones did not represent HBO's only loss in 2022's comprehensive piracy report. The two series trailing the fantasy epic in piracy popularity were Zendaya-led Euphoria with 7,960 monthly searches and Friends with 5,060 monthly searches. Each of these three popularly pirated series are hosted through HBO and its streaming service HBO Max. It was also found that eight out of the top ten most pirated shows are live-action and are found on streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Prime Video, with the only animated shows on the list being Family Guy and Attack on Titan.
Following the top three shows were Family Guy and Attack on Titan, which will be receiving a Part 3 sometime in 2023. A report from January named Attack On Titan: The Final Season - Part 2 as the world's most in-demand anime of 2021. Other popular series among content pirates include Chicago Fire, The Office and the final season of Peaky Blinders. According to USwitch's piracy report, there are almost 230 billion views of pirated content a year, which includes movies, video games and software.
While piracy is prevalent and trackable in the streaming era, USwitch noted that the practice predates digital media with things like cassettes and CDs, though the speed and access to pirated content has grown exponentially since physical media became outdated. The piracy report outlines the impacts that this prevalent digital piracy has on creators and offers solutions to cut down on this popular form of media consumption.
All eight seasons of Game of Thrones are currently available to stream on HBO and HBO Max.
Source: USwitch