Game of Thrones’ third series – which included THAT ‘red wedding’ episode – aired this year (Picture: HBO)

Game of Thrones has been announced as the most-pirated show of the year.

The fantasy series has been downloaded an estimated number of 5.9million times via BitTorrent, with the finale of the third series beating competition by a landslide.

Game of Thrones, which was the most-pirated show of 2012, saw over 170,000 people shared a copy of an episode at the same time this year.

Hit shows Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead complete the top three in the annual list compiled by TorrentFreak.


The former – which ended in September – has an estimated 4.2million downloads worldwide, while The Walking Dead fetched 3.6million.



Dexter, The Big Bang Theory and Homeland also feature, with 3.1million, 3.4million and 2.4million downloads respectively.

The top ten most-pirated shows of 2013 are as follows:

1. Game of Thrones – 5.9million downloads

2. Breaking Bad – 4.2million downloads

3. The Walking Dead – 3.6million downloads

4. The Big Bang Theory – 3.4million downloads

5. Dexter – 3.1million downloads

6. How I Met Your Mother – 3million downloads

7. Suits – 2.6million downloads

8. Homeland – 2.4million downloads downloads

9. Vikings – 2.3million downloads

10. Arrow – 2.2million downloads