14 DAY TRIAL // While 2011 was a big year for the gaming industry, with many great games being released and selling very well, there were still pirates who chose to download illegal copies instead of buying them. Now, their actions have been counted and a top 5 with the most pirated games has been made for each major platform - the PC, Xbox 360 and Wii.
Piracy, no matter the platform, is a serious problem in the gaming industry as a big number of people still choose to pirate instead of buying titles, even if many companies are taking serious steps to combat these issues, either by crippling their games with Digital Rights Management software or by offering multiplayer and various online incentives to actually reward players for paying money for the game.
The last year was no different, as millions upon millions of people chose to pirate games for a variety of platforms.
Now, website TorrentFreak made some top 5 lists with the most pirated games for platforms like the PC, Xbox 360 or Nintendo Wii. The PlayStation 3 was omitted, given the fact that Sony still makes it very difficult for owners of the console to modify it.
On the PC, Crysis 2 is the most pirated game of 2011, followed closely by two other first person shooters, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3.
Top 5 Pirated PC Games 1. Crysis 2 (3,920,000) 2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (3,650,000) 3. Battlefield 3 (3,510,000) 4. FIFA 12 (3,390,000) 5. Portal 2 (3,240,000) On the Xbox 360, Gears of War 3 leads the chart, followed once again by Modern Warfare 3, which practically makes it the most pirated game of the year across multiple platforms, and Battlefield 3.
Top 5 Pirated Xbox 360 Games 1. Gears of War 3 (890,000) 2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (830,000) 3. Battlefield 3 (760,000) 4. Forza Motorsport 4 (720,000) 5. Kinect Sports: Season Two (690,000) Nintendo Wii owners, rather surprisingly, once again chose to pirate Super Mario Galaxy 2, a game that was released back in 2010. Another Mario game follows, with Mario Sports Mix, and plenty of other varied titles.
Top 5 Pirated Wii Games 1. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (1,280,000) (May 2010) 2. Mario Sports Mix (1,090,000) (Feb. 2011) 3. Xenoblade Chronicles (950,000) (Aug. 2011 EU) 4. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean (870,000) (May 2011) 5. FIFA 12 (860,000) (Sept. 2011) Sadly, while most of these games had great online modes that justified paying full price for them, it seemed that most video game pirates didn't even care, opting to download them illegally.