Game of Thrones named most pirated show of 2015 with a staggering number of downloads

An actor previously warned that piracy could affect the show's production value

(HBO)

Game of thrones was once again the most-pirated show of the year, with 14,400,000 people who don’t have an HBO subscription turning to BitTorrent to watch season 5.

The staggering number, which doesn’t take into account other torrent services or views through illegal streaming sites, was revealed by TorrentFreak this week.

The show was way more pirated than second placed series The Walking Dead, which received 7,500,000 downloads this year.

GoT episode ‘Kill the Boy’ set a new piracy record, but half of the torrents occurred during the week following the season 5 premiere.

In spite of a demand for HD versions, 480p copies proved the most popular.

GoT actor Iwan Rheon (Ramsay Bolton) previously warned that the piracy that has dogged the series could harm its production value in future.

“The production values are extremely high and if this continues they won’t be able to do it because there’ll be no point if everyone’s watching for free.

“So then the standard of the show will drop massively, everything will get worse and it’ll just be really sad. I think it’s a terrible thing.”

Game of Thrones will return for its sixth season in April 2016.

Most downloaded TV-shows on BitTorrent, 2015 (estimated downloads)

1 Game of Thrones 14,400,000

2 The Walking Dead 6,900,000

3 The Big Bang Theory 4,400,000

4 Arrow 3,900,000

5 The Flash 3,600,000

6 Mr. Robot 3,500,000

7 Vikings 3,300,000

8 Supergirl 3,000,000

9 The Blacklist 2,900,000

10 Suits 2,600,000