BitTorrent Game Piracy Soars into the Millions
- January 12, 2006 17:22 PM PST
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Bit Torrent game downloads reach higher levels than ever.
It may come as no surprise to 'Net-savvy gamers, but online game piracy is exploding. And when it comes to illegal game downloads, BitTorrent is unquestionably the vehicle of choice.
But how many people actually download video games through BitTorrent? To gain some insight into the matter, we carefully followed some hot game titles on one popular BitTorrent tracker site.
Judging by the numbers, PC piracy is rampant. But console downloads are also growing, especially on the Xbox.
Standout numbers on the PC include nearly three million illegal downloads of Quake 4 on the PC, and nearly a half million downloads of Star Wars: Republic Commando.
On the consoles, the original Xbox reigns supreme: the top Xbox game, Forza, was downloaded over 70,000 times. The most-downloaded PS2 game, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, topped out at a much smaller 40,432 downloads.
Handheld systems--particularly the PSP--are also affected by piracy. PSP piracy has exploded in recent weeks, with The Sims 2 topping out at nearly 40,000 downloads in just over one month of availability.
The full chart of tracked downloads follows; the numbers were updated as of January 12, 2006.
PC
Quake 4 DVD: 1,955,479 downloads since 10-19-05 (2.65 GB)
Quake 4 CD version: 975,393 downloads since 10-18-05 (2.65 GB)
Star Wars: Republic Commando: 455,419 downloads since 3-01-05 (1.49 GB)
GTA San Andreas: 229,590 downloads since 6-07-05 (3.92 GB)
Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30: 175,515 downloads since 3-15-05 (2.87 GB)
PS2
GTA San Andreas: 40,432 downloads since 10-20-04 (4.19 GB)
Tekken 5: 33,470 downloads since 02-25-05 (3.72 GB)
Peter Jackson's King Kong: 23,482 downloads since 12-13-05 (441 MB)
Gran Turismo 4: 17,039 downloads since 2-25-05 (2.01 GB)
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater: 9,216 downloads since 11-18-05 (3.23 GB)
Xbox
Forza Motorsport: 71,887 downloads since 04-28-05 (2.91 GB)
Doom 3: 32,166 downloads since 03-27-05 (2.58 GB)
Shadow the Hedgehog: 27,819 downloads since 11-17-05 (1.97 GB)
Halo 2: just under 45,802 downloads since 10-14-05 (2.8 GB)
True Crime NYC: 37,448 downloads since 11-16-05 (1.36 GB)
Gamecube
Resident Evil 4: 10,434 downloads since 1-13-05 (2.03 GB)
Mario Power Tennis USA: 3,818 downloads since 1-16-05 (527.46 MB)
Star Fox Assault: 3,413 downloads since 2-11-05 (1.13 GB)
PSP
The Sims 2: 39,823 downloads since 12-09-05 (374.4 MB)
GTA: Liberty City Stories: 7,692 downloads since 11-14-05 (455.57 MB)
Lumines: 9,324 downloads since 07-01-05 (11 MB)
Socom US Navy Seals: Fireteam Bravo: 4,283 downloads since 11-12-05 (292.17 MB)
We'll continue following BitTorrent download trends to see if piracy continues to accelerate. The initial data, however, highlights the size of the problem facing game developers and publishers. These numbers account for just one BitTorrent tracker site, and don't account for piracy over other popular applications like eDonkey or LimeWire.
