Game of Thrones Season 4 Finale Breaks Illegal Download Record

The Game of Thrones Season 4 finale, entitled "The Children," nearly broke a ratings record when it aired Sunday night, and it also managed to surpass an illegal download mark.

The episode had approximately 1.5 million downloads within 12 hours of its initial airing on HBO, according to TorrentFreak, which tracks and reports on piracy activity. More than 250,000 users shared the same file for the finale, which the site called a "swarm" that broke records. Furthermore, TorrentFreak estimates the episode would crack 7.5 million downloads in the coming days.

"The Children" amassed 7.1 million viewers, which marks a 32 percent increase from the Season 3 finale. But the figure just misses the show's all-time high of 7.2 million viewers, which it set multiple times during Season 4. "The Children" hauled in 9.3 million viewers with two repeats later in the night.

Game 5 of the NBA Finals between Tim Duncan's San Antonio Spurs and LeBron James' Miami Heat likely took some of the viewership away from Game of Thrones, as millions tuned in to watch Duncan earn his fifth ring and deny LeBron his third consecutive (and third overall).

Game of Thrones Season 4 had the largest audience for an HBO series in the network's history with an average of 18.6 million viewers across all platforms (live airings, HBO Go, etc.) and repeats, a 29 percent increase from Season 3.

In other Thrones news, the Queen Elizabeth II of England will soon visit the set of the show in Belfast with Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, when they visit Northern Ireland next week.

Does the Game of Thrones' finale's high piracy number surprise you? Let us know in the comments below?