Shocker, right? Arguably the biggest game release of this year wound up being the one most stolen? Hard to imagine.
Yet that's exactly what the people at TorrentFreak are claiming. Their yearly research into the games people love to steal has found that the first-person shooter hit the top of both the PC and Xbox 360 lists for most unauthorized downloads with 4.1 million and 970,000 downloads respectively. The Sims 3, Street Fighter IV and Prototype also saw a considerable number of downloads.
It's staggering when you consider that the game has only been out since November and has managed to be stolen so many times. Modern Warfare 2 has utterly crushed last year's champion, Spore, which pushed out 1.7 million copies.
Of course, PC piracy numbers downright dominate the consoles, with even the fifth place PC game beating out the most-pirated title on Wii or 360. The Wii out-pirated the 360 by about half a million downloads. No numbers for PS3 were supplied in the report.
Modern Warfare 2 Most Pirated Game of 2009 [TorrentFreak, via Download Squad]
Conrad Zimmerman is Destructoid's News Editor and home to the busiest mustache in the gaming press. An amateur historian and pop culture fanatic, Conrad possesses a nearly limitless wealth of videogame factoids and a passion for the power of games to teach, inspire and entertain. He enjoys reading, writing and turning things which should be fun into work.
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Contest:
6:30 PM on 12.28.2009
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Funny enough I didn't buy MW2, and it certainly isn't worth the space on my hard drive.
also, these are somewhat like NPDs numbers for PC games, in that they don't count downloads from usenet or DDL services etc. still, big numbers.
gotta wonder how IWs unpopular design decisions have affected these numbers.
RAAAAAAAAAGE.
I fail to see that logic.
... though I wonder how many people pirate PS3 games... seems it would be difficult given the expense of a blu-ray burner...
Maybe because of concerts and stuff...
Or I may be way off from Infinite Combo's idea.
Hmm, maybe so. To make it clear I wasn't trying to say it was right or wrong. It just seems weird to me for someone to be choosy about their piracy. It's usually "all in" or "none at all."
But still, they made a lot of money off of the game, so it is really that big of a deal?
Even if the people who pirate games DIDN'T pirate them, the companies aren't getting any more money. But I understand why not to legalize it or any of that sh*t but if some people do it, and a lot of people still buy it it all kind of evens out.
Glad I'm not a part of that 4chan-like sesspool anymore.
[url] www.utorrent.com [/url]
I'm choosy about my piracy. I don't steal video games but when it comes to music, movies and wrestling PPVs, I'm dirty, stinkin', rotten pirate. I make no excuses.
Realy, whos impressed?
THANKS FOR SAVING PC GAMING!
good job.
It happens we all know it, but I love reading the stats on it all.
Funny to see the Wii torrents > 360 torrents though. Would it be the higher cost for dual-layer discs, the longer dl time, or that people mostly use private trackers for 360 torrents as Wii owners are generally less internet savvy and more likely to not know wtf a private tracker is? Or just more Wii users? :P
Every penny you keep away from Activision...
I've heard that argument and it's still staggeringly bollocks.
"Well," the console gamer said nonchalantly, "good for you. I'm sure Activision took that lesson to heart. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go play Modern Warfare 3."
"Silly console gamer," PC gamers scoffed. "Don't you mean Modern Warfare 2?"
"Nope," the console gamer replied. "Modern Warfare 3."
"What?" cried the PC gamer. "But there's no PC version!"
"You're surprised?" said the console gamer, raising an eyebrow as he walked away. "Well, congratulations on your victory."
It's staggeringly bollocks...why?
Surely a fan is someone that supports the band; if you torrent the material you're just a dirty thief.
I'm sorry, I don't understand how if I pirate Modern Warfare 2, I can't play Team Fortress 2.
PS3 games won't be pirated for at least 5-10 more years.
Sad thing is, I know I'm gonna have to buy it eventually, having played it online on 360 a few times recently. The sales numbers for this game must be nuts, and I wouldnt be surprised if many of those pirates capitulated for the multiplayer. I just will not buy it full price...
*that last part is an actual quote from a Holocaust survivor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLsJyfN0ICU
This is an excellent sentence splice video of it...don't ask xD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZoptTPbb9I&feature=related
So those saying Piracy is evil, oohh and aaahh. Don't really know jack. Movie box office sales of Taken was fine for instance, even though the movie was on the scene before the official movie came out in theaters. As for piracy hurting music, I honestly think that's bullshit. Especially small bands, they often put the music on torrents themselves to promote the music. Most pirated music is often the most purchased. Many underground bands promote this way, they can't get wide marketing in place and have to sell via website.
Direct to DVD sales are good, enough to continually make DVDs, yet they are instantly pirateable on or before release.
http://torrentfreak.com/record-label-sponsors-bittorrent-site-isohunt-090503/
The music companies blame torrents for this, as the current sales of major records have slipped to new lows. Now these are like Metallica and all that, does anyone listen to Metallica any more? People's tastes change, people stop listening to certain groups, pick up on others. The problem is the market has become saturated before you needed heavy promo and whatever was on MTV was the thing. Now MTV is less about the music and more about shows and random crap. Because it no longer is the sole source of info.
Small garage bands can promo their stuff all on their own through Youtube.com and other places. These large corp backed bands are pissed and try to take down what they see as threats, with little actually data behind it.
I'll be playing games that are actually tailored to the device it's on. Be they exclusives for my PS3, or the multi-platform games that look and perform vastly better on my PC.
staggeringly bollocks, why?
They're still getting money, and they aren't losing any, either.
I'm not going to say I pirate or anything, but what about those games that are "alright" but aren't worth $50-60? Wait until they're used and get them cheaper? Well, that would work, but I "thought" that the gaming companies don't get money from games that are re-sold. So, either way its not helping them. and Some games just aren't WORTH the money, but you still may want to play it. (I'm not sure if this happens to anyone else, but it does me)
"I'm sorry, I don't understand how if I pirate Modern Warfare 2, I can't play Team Fortress 2."
Nono, he said best online shooter. Which of course, as we all know, is Counter-strike. But if he said best online stooter still receiving updates, then yes you wouldn't be able to play TF2.
"In before dedicated serpents nerd rage--awwwwwwwww."
In before somebody makes fun of your shitty German rock band name ... awwwwwww.
"Sorry guys, I can't hear any of you over the loud hammering of the nails going into the PC gaming casket, you're going to have to speak up."
Right, because MW2 is the only game you can play on a computer! Also, how can you support Valve and yet feel that PC gaming is going to die? That's a pretty big oxymoron.
Publishers makes $0 off the sale of used games. They make $0 off the non-sale of games. They make $0 off the "piracy" of games. What part of this equation do you not understand? Was it the part where 0 = 0 = 0 or the part where you are just fucking retarded?
Please, go die in a fire before your stupidity kills someone.
@Mohd Syafiq Bin Jabaruddin
is it just me, or does that statement not make sense? i'm pretty sure you screwed up the second half, especially considering that when you google your supposed quote from a holocaust survivor, the only hit is this dtoid page.