Spore might not have been released until September, but it’s already claimed one of the year’s most dubious honors – it’s been named as the most illegally downloaded PC game of the year in the TorrentFreak blog, according to the BBC.
The blog states that the digital rights management (DRM) originally attached to the game is one of the reasons it’s proved so popular for illegal downloads. When the game first appeared, the DRM allowed for only three installations on computers. A hacked DRM-free version appeared within 24 hours, the BBC says, and 500,000 pirated copies were downloaded in just 10 days.
Game publisher Electronic Arts later released a DRM-lite version of Spore. It’s sold two million copies worldwide.
The Sims 2 (also from Will Wright, who was behind Spore) cane second on the illegal download list, followed by Assassins Creed, Crysis and Command & Conquer 3.
Online games like World of Warcraft and Warhammer didn’t make the list, because they require a subscription to play.
