These films and series were viewed the most (illegally) last year

Netflix, Disney Plus, Sky Show, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+ – There are now more streaming service offers than you can take. However, places where virtually all streaming content can be consumed are piracy sites. And unlike in many other countries, viewing and downloading films and series on such free portals is not a criminal offense in Switzerland as long as the content is not redistributed.

Research agency Muso, which specializes in piracy, measures activity on various piracy sites and provides insight into which films and series are most illegally consumed.

The most successful films of 2022 were Tom Cruise’s “Top Gun: Maverick” and James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water”. On the list of the top 10 illegally viewed films of the past year (measurement period: February 2022 to February 2023), these appear only in the bottom half or not at all.

In the same period, “House of the Dragon” took first place not only worldwide, but also in Switzerland. A record-breaking series whose finale crashed streaming service provider HBO Max. And the series “The Last of Us”, which appeared only in February, has already made it into the top 10.

Variety explains that there are no Netflix series on this list saying that “the main method of choice for Netflix piracy is password sharing, rather than illegal streams or downloads.”

In Hollywood, opinions differ on the illegal consumption of films. For example, actress Helen Mirren said that “piracy will destroy the film industry and film as an art form”. Other filmmakers are convinced that it is free advertising for their films and see no problem with that.