Game of Thrones is the most pirated show of 2022, per new study

A lot of people pirates movies and TV shows; according to one study, people view pirated video as much as 230 billion times per year. Studios would surely rather that those folk pay for content, but it’s still kind of a mark of honor to have made the most pirated show or movie on Earth. Whether they paid for it or not, people are clearly watching.

It’s also fun to see which movies and TV shows are pirated most. The folks over at USwitch looked into it, collating “the most common international Google search volumes of popular pirating terms to determine the most pirated video games, TV shows, films and software.” What are the results?

Well, there’s plenty you expect on there, plus some surprises. Let’s start with the most pirated TV shows of the year so far.

Most pirated TV shows of 2022

1. Game of Thrones
2. Euphoria
3. Friends
4. Family Guy
5. Attack on Titan
6. Chicago Fire
7. Peaky Blinders
8. The Office
9. The Walking Dead
10. Breaking Bad
11. Ted Lasso
12. Modern Famly
13. Elite
14. Grey’s Anatomy
15. Vikings

Game of Thrones regularly topped the list of most pirated shows when it was on, and it’s cool to see it still going so strong. This definitely bodes well for HBO’s upcoming prequel series House of the Dragon.

Most pirated movies of 2022

1. Spider-Man: No Way Home
2. Avengers: Endgame
3. Interstellar
4. Avengers: Infinity War
5. Star Wars
6. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
7. M
8. Joker
9. The Dark Knight
10. Good Will Hunting
11. Pulp Fiction
12. The Matrix
13. Spirited Away
14. The Godfather
15. Inception

I can understand superhero movies like Spider-Man: No Way Home and Avengers: Endgame being on this list, although other stuff makes me raise an eyebrow. Good Will Hunting? M? Is that, like, the 1931 German crime thriller M, or is there something I’m missing?

This is probably a good time to remind everyone that USwitch is basing these results on “international Google search volumes of popular pirating terms,” so maybe that accounts for some of the oddness. Or perhaps the picture does change a bit when you expand the scope to include international audiences.

Anyway, the moral of the story is that Game of Thrones is very popular and M is a good movie. Spread the word.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels