And the Most-Pirated Game of 2010 Is...

[John Funk]

And the Most-Pirated Game of 2010 Is...

Which game of 2010 was illegally downloaded more than any other? The answer may (not) surprise you.

With 2010 almost over, it comes time to look back and reflect on the past year in gaming. We give out awards for quality as necessary, but there also comes a time to give out a significantly more dubious honor: Which game was the most downloaded more by pirates over the past twelve months?

The answer is Call of Duty: Black Ops - which TorrentFreak [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/106484-Black-Ops-Racks-Up-Nearly-70-000-Years-of-Play], Black Ops was downloaded a staggering 5.1 million times across both the PC (4.27 million downloads) and Xbox 360 (930K downloads).

While Black Ops was the most-pirated game on PC, beating out challengers Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Mafia 2, Mass Effect 2 and StarCraft II, this was surprisingly not the case on Xbox. There, BlOps took fifth behind Red Dead Redemption, Alan Wake, Halo Reach and a surprising leader: EA's derivative-seeming Dante's Inferno was downloaded 1.28 million times, making it the most-pirated Xbox 360 game of 2010.

On the Wii, it's no surprise that the most-pirated game was the superb Super Mario Galaxy 2 with 1.47 million downloads. Following in short succession were Wii Party (really?), Donkey Kong Country Returns, Kirby's Epic Yarn and Red Steel 2.

It's true that not every download is a lost sale. While it's a safe bet that some of the pirates would have bought the game were there no other choice, there's no way of knowing how low (or high) that percentage would be.

Either way, it's probably difficult to be one of the developers of a game like Dante's Inferno or Alan Wake and struggling with your bills, and then see that a million people played your game without ever paying you for it. For all pirates might want to crow about stickin' it to The Man, where The Man is Bobby Kotick or John Riccitiello, the CEOs aren't the ones really getting hurt by this.

The full chart is below:

[blockquote]PC Games:
1 Call of Duty: Black Ops (4,270,000)
2 Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (3,960,000)
3 Mafia 2 (3,550,000)
4 Mass Effect 2 (3,240,000)
5 StarCraft II (3,120,000)

Wii Games:
1 Super Mario Galaxy 2 (1,470,000)
2 Wii Party (1,220,000)
3 Donkey Kong Country Returns (920,000)
4 Kirby's Epic Yarn (880,000)
5 Red Steel 2 (850,000)

Xbox 360 Games:
1 Dante's Inferno (1,280,000)
2 Alan Wake (1,140,000)
3 Red Dead Redemption (1,060,000)
4 Halo Reach (990,000)
5 Call of Duty: Black Ops (930,000)[/blockquote]

(GamePolitics [http://torrentfreak.com/call-of-duty-black-ops-most-pirated-game-of-2010-101228/])

Permalink

 

[Delusibeta]

It's true that not every download is a lost sale. While it's a safe bet that some of the pirates would have bought the game were there no other choice, there's no way of knowing how low (or high) that percentage would be.

I would guess 0.2%. Certainly, most people pirating anything is doing it because it costs £0.00.

 

[OANST]

It's true that not every download is a lost sale. While it's a safe bet that some of the pirates would have bought the game were there no other choice, there's no way of knowing how low (or high) that percentage would be.

I would approximate 0.2%.

Ah. So you're a pirate.

 

[Delusibeta]

It's true that not every download is a lost sale. While it's a safe bet that some of the pirates would have bought the game were there no other choice, there's no way of knowing how low (or high) that percentage would be.

I would approximate 0.2%.

Ah. So you're a pirate.

Talk about jumping to conclusions.

When you can get Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age Ultimate for under £17, I don't need to pirate!

 

[Tim Latshaw]

Sissies. March into a store, look the associate in the eye and demand to buy Kirby's Epic Yarn like a MAN.

 

[OANST]

It's true that not every download is a lost sale. While it's a safe bet that some of the pirates would have bought the game were there no other choice, there's no way of knowing how low (or high) that percentage would be.

I would approximate 0.2%.

Ah. So you're a pirate.

Talk about jumping to conclusions.

Am I wrong?

 

[Delusibeta]

It's true that not every download is a lost sale. While it's a safe bet that some of the pirates would have bought the game were there no other choice, there's no way of knowing how low (or high) that percentage would be.

I would approximate 0.2%.

Ah. So you're a pirate.

Talk about jumping to conclusions.

Am I wrong?

For the record, you're wrong.

 

[ZephrC]

It's true that not every download is a lost sale. While it's a safe bet that some of the pirates would have bought the game were there no other choice, there's no way of knowing how low (or high) that percentage would be.

I would approximate 0.2%.

Ah. So you're a pirate.

Actually, Shamus had an article here once that talked about an indie developer that had messed around with a bunch of different kinds of DRM, and they had estimated that they gained one sale for every thousand pirates they prevented.

So that number was probably too high.

 

[Pompey71]

I still say the companies have gotten it wrong. Instead of making games MORE expensive to cover costs, make them LOWER and give the pirates cause to rethink. If I knew nearly every major game would release for £20-25 I don't think I'd even bat an eyelid towards pirating them. I personally think the businesses are their own worst enemy and in trying to fill their pockets, they've emptied them.

 

[Monshroud]

There's that part of me that wants to believe that 1/2 of the people who pirated these games actually went out and bought them or will buy them when the price drops, then there is the realist in me that knows only 1/2 of 1% will probably do that...

This is why we can't have nice things...

 

[xDHxD148L0]

The piracy rate on PC is just sad, and then ppl wonder why we end up getting poor support and shitty ports.

 

[mattaui]

There are an unfortunately large number of people whose only impediment to stealing is the fear they might get caught, having no real concern for the hard work and livelihood of others. While every pirated download isn't a lost sale, that's both hard to quantify and even harder to prove.

I know an unfortunately large number of working professionals who don't see anything wrong with stealing music, movies and games that they claim to like and want to support, even though they drop more on their nightly bar tab than it would cost them to pick up a game.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Look at how much higher the rate of piracy is on PC. Entitled geeks will steal anything if they feel they deserve it.

Yes, you got it, PC gamers are entitled. It has absolutely nothing to do with how much easier it is to pirate stuff on a PC than it is on a console.

Seriously, man, if it were as easy to pirate stuff on the consoles as it is to pirate stuff on the PC, the numbers would not only be equivalent, but the console numbers would be higher, since more people play on the three consoles combined than on the PC alone.

OT: Notice that none of the games in the top 5 for any of the systems has been a financial failure, in any sense of the word. One of these days, people are going to realize that while there may be some negative impact from piracy, it's nothing compared to what the various affected industries claim it is. And people actually believe that used sales are as bad as or worse than the imaginary bugaboo of piracy? We really need to quit buying industry spin. As consumers, the industry is not our friend. No industry is.

 

[SpcyhknBC]

I'm very hurt by this article, where are the numbers for PS3 piracy? No love for the PS3, how sad.

 

[sosolidshoe]

It's true that not every download is a lost sale, but I'm going to carry on and make the same tired arguments based on that point regardless.

Edit and emphasis mine. People are well aware of the issue by now, do we really need to see the subject in half the articles the Escapist puts out?