Spore Is Most Pirated PC Game Of 2008

By Digital Trends Staff December 10, 2008

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.

Editors' Recommendations

Digital Trends Staff

Digital Trends has a simple mission: to help readers easily understand how tech affects the way they live. We are your…

Gaming

What’s free on the Epic Games Store right now?

Robots attacking in Industria.

Checking in on the Epic Games Store is one of the easiest ways to grow your gaming library. Epic gives out a free game or two every week, ranging from darling indies to AAA titles. All you have to do is jump on the Epic Games Store to claim the free games and they'll be added to your library to keep forever.

Keeping track of all the free titles and gaming deals can be a pain, so we're monitoring the Epic Games Store for you. We'll update this article every time a new game is made available!
What's free on the Epic Games Store right now?
These games can be picked up on the Epic Games store right now for free. Scroll down to the Free Games section of the app's Discover tab or find the individual title using the search bar. Just find and select the Get button to claim your free game. You do not have to download or install it right away.

Gaming

Tribeca Games 2024 will feature 7 games and a Final Fantasy 7 panel

Aerith stares at floating lanterns in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

The Tribeca Festival returns this June, and it will once again feature official games selections and even a game-focused panel. This year, the selections are all promising indie games, including a successor to 2021's excellent Before Your Eyes. The show will also feature a talk on the making of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

Tribeca Fest will feature seven titles this year. Some of those should look familiar, as games like Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure have appeared on high-profile livestreams. The list of games features titles from publishers like Devolver Digital and Raw Fury. Here's the full list.

Gaming

Loved Fallout on Amazon Prime? Get Fallout 4 for PC for only $8

A raider standing outside nuka-world in Fallout 4.

If you haven't turned on your TV recently, then you may not know about the Fallout show that was just released and one that we already consider more impressive than The Last of Us, which is saying a lot. The show is based on the games, and this surge of popularity has driven a lot of people to pick up the last game single-player game in the series, Fallout 4, to the point where even the studio that made it, Bethesda, is releasing a next-gen update for it. So, if you've never played it before and want to pick it up or want to revisit the world of Fallout but on PC, you can grab this deal from CDkeys that discounts it way down to just $8 from the usual $50.

Why you should buy Fallout 4
While there are a lot of great Fallout games, with one of the favorites among fans being Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4 is still highly ranked, and if you're looking for a great single-player experience of the world with modern graphics, that's the one to go for. The world is truly massive in size, and there's an absolute ton for you to explore, with the character development and customization being pretty excellent, and while the story is a little bit predictable and derivative of older Fallout games, it's still enjoyable overall. Probably one of the biggest updates to the Fallout formula is the new crafting and settlement systems, which let you build . . . well, a settlement of your own making.