Back in the day, Game of Thrones was the most-pirated show every year. The fantasy series was the world's most-pirated show for seven consecutive years, from 2012 to 2018. However, when the final season aired in 2019, the series lost its accolade to Star Wars spinoff series The Mandalorian. Fast forward to 2024, and Westeros has regained its crown.
According to numbers from TorrentFreak, per WorldScreen, the Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon was the world's most-pirated show of 2024. In fact, two HBO shows made up the top 5, with Batman spinoff The Penguin coming in at 5th. In second place is Prime Video's The Boys, followed by Hulu's Shōgun (#3) and Netflix's Arcane (#4). No real surprises here.
It makes sense to see two Max shows — House of the Dragon and The Penguin — in the top 5. Max still isn't available in many locations worldwide, including big audiences such as the United Kingdom, which makes streaming more difficult. I'd imagine this inconvenience results in many viewers turning to pirating.
Fallout (Prime), Reacher (Prime), Silo (Apple TV+), Dune: Prophecy (Max) and Halo (Paramount+) make up the rest of the Top 10. Besides Reacher, it's a clean-sweep of sci-fi and fantasy shows!
One interesting omission is The Rings of Power. The Lord of the Rings prequel aired its second season in 2024, which had a great reception. I'm surprised not to see it break into the top 10.
As for House of the Dragon, the series is expected to begin filming its third season early this year, with its release expected sometime in 2026. This year will see the release of our second Game of Thrones prequel, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Doubtless it'll break into the list of most-pirated shows of the year.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newslette rand check out our YouTube channel.