HBO’s The Last of Us ranks as the most-pirated TV show release of 2023, according to TorrentFreak, beating out Disney+’s The Mandalorian and Loki, which round out the top three.
Disney+’s Ahsoka and Secret Invasion landed in fourth and fifth places, respectively. Apple TV’s Silo and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters snatched the next two spots, followed by Paramount+’s Tulsa King, Prime Video’s Gen V and Apple TV’s Ted Lasso.
For many years, the list was led by Game of Thrones. Once the dragon-themed series ended, Disney+ series stepped in to take over, with WandaVision and The Mandalorian topping the 2020 and 2021 lists, respectively. The Disney+ takeover ended last year, when HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, topped the list.
The 2023 list was dominated by VOD content. “With the current streaming landscape being so fragmented, it appears that many people prefer to pirate instead of paying for ‘another’ subscription,” said TorrentFreak’s Ernesto Van der Sar.
“Interestingly, Netflix releases are noticeably absent,” he noted. “Without speculating too much, it seems likely that Netflix users are less likely to give up their subscriptions, as it’s the dominant streaming platform in most parts of the world.”
The ranking is estimated based on sample data from several sources, including I Know and BitTorrent. To note, BitTorrent traffic represents only a small portion of the piracy landscape. Most people use streaming sites and services now, which generally do not report viewing stats.
