--- description: Episodes of 'Game of Thrones' were illegally downloaded more than 7 million times from Feb. 5 to April 6, researchers have found title: 'Game of Thrones' Season 5 Premiere Sparks Piracy Surge image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20043a346567c833/6986892535ba6f0770c015c7/gameofthrones14_35.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The _Game of Thrones_ Season 5 Premiere Has Sparked a Huge Surge in Illegal Downloads by [Helen Regan](/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 10, 2015 8:45 AM CUT  HBO by [Helen Regan](/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 10, 2015 8:45 AM CUT In the weeks leading up to the much anticipated premiere of Season 5 of _Game of Thrones_, there has been a huge surge in illegal downloads of the HBO hit show. Antipiracy firm [Irdeto](http://irdeto.com/news-and-events/illegal-downloads-of-game-of-thrones-episodes-increase-more-than-45-percent-year-over-year-in-the-final-weeks-before-season-5-premiere.html "undefined") found that episodes of _Game of Thrones_ were illegally downloaded more than 7 million times from Feb. 5 to April 6, a 45% increase worldwide from the same period in 2014. In the same three months last year there were just 4.9 million downloads. The data shows that, in 2015, illegal downloads of the show were averaging 116,000 per day. Those figures make _Game of Thrones_ easily the world’s most pirated television show so far this year, beating _The Walking Dead_, (5.7 million illegal downloads), _Breaking Bad_ (3.8 million), _Vikings_ (3.4 million) and _House of Cards_ (2.7 million). Brazil ranks as the top illegal downloader, with almost a million _Game of Thrones_ downloads. France comes in a close second followed by the U.S. with 464,000 downloads. “Piracy is a tidal wave that cannot be controlled, only managed. There is a culture of ‘free’ where many people believe that it is acceptable to pirate these TV shows if they don’t have access to them through legal means,” Rory O’Connor, vice president of services at Irdeto, said in the report. _Read next:_ [_These Are the Cheapest Ways You Can Now Get HBO_](http://time.com/3814692/hbo-now-price-apple-tv/?iid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") ### See Photos from Game of Thrones Season 5  Maisie Williams as Arya Stark. Macall B. Polay—HBO  Michael McElhatton as Roose Bolton, Iwan Rheon as Ramsay Bolton and Elizabeth Webster as Walda Frey. Helen Sloan—HBO  Conleth Hill as Varys and Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister. Helen Sloan—HBO  Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen. Helen Sloan—HBO  Nathalie Emmanuel as Missandei and Jacob Anderson as Grey Worm. Helen Sloan—HBO  Indira Varma as Ellaria Sand and Deobia Opaeri as Areo Hotah. Macall B. Polay—HBO  Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark and Aidan Gillen as Littlefinger. Helen Sloan—HBO  Kit Harington as Jon Snow, Stephen Dillane as Stannis Baratheon and Liam Cunningham as Davos Seaworth. Helen Sloan—HBO  Natalie Dormer as Margaery Tyrell and Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister. Helen Sloan—HBO  Alexander Siddig as Doran Martell. Macall B. Polay—HBO  Carice van Houten as Melisandre Helen Sloan—HBO  Kit Harington as Jon Snow. Helen Sloan—HBO  Daniel Portman as Podrick Payne and Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth. Helen Sloan—HBO  Dean-Charles Chapman as Tommen Baratheon and Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister. Macall B. Polay—HBO  Kristofer Hivju as Tormund Giantsbane. Helen Sloan—HBO  Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister. Helen Sloan—HBO  Jonathan Pryce as the High Sparrow. Macall B. Polay—HBO  Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister and Ian Beattie as Meryn Trant. Macall B. Polay—HBO  Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister and Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister. Helen Sloan—HBO  Kit Harington as Jon Snow and Ciaran Hinds as Mance Rayder. Helen Sloan—HBO  Rosabell Laurenti Sellers as Tyene Sand. Macall B. Polay—HBO  Jessica Henwick as Nymeria Sand. Helen Sloan—HBO  Keisha Castle-Hughes. as Obara Sand. Helen Sloan—HBO  Nell Tiger Free as Myrcella Baratheon and Toby Sebastian as Trystane Martell Macall B. Polay—HBO  Nell Tiger Free as Myrcella Baratheon. Macall B. Polay—HBO [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3816733/game-of-thrones-downloads-season-5-pirated/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3816733/game-of-thrones-downloads-season-5-pirated/"},"headline":"The Game of Thrones Season 5 Premiere Has Sparked a Huge Surge in Illegal Downloads","datePublished":"2015-04-10T08:45:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:04:36.704Z","description":"It's officially the most pirated show worldwide","url":"https://time.com/3816733/game-of-thrones-downloads-season-5-pirated/","keywords":["Television","Internet","game of thrones","study","Report","Piracy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20043a346567c833/6986892535ba6f0770c015c7/gameofthrones14_35.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Helen Regan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/helen-regan/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20043a346567c833/6986892535ba6f0770c015c7/gameofthrones14_35.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Game-of-Thrones-S4-E1","caption":"Game of Thrones Season 4 Episode 1","creditText":"HBO","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3816733/game-of-thrones-downloads-season-5-pirated/","name":"The Game of Thrones Season 5 Premiere Has Sparked a Huge Surge in Illegal Downloads"}}]}] ```