According to research outfit Envisional, the number of illegally downloaded games has shot up 20 percent in the last five years.

The top five games of 2010 were pirated almost a million times, Envisional claims, and it seems the trend is not letting up, despite increasingly sophisticated security measures on the part of publishers.

Industry execs believe rampant piracy is creating a generation of consumers who expect to get games for free. At a time when governments believe they can actually run countries for free, who could actually blame kids for downloading a bunch of “free” games?

However, some gamers who engage in such activities claim they are merely “testing” the games before they actually buy them. Chairman of the Association for UK Interactive Entertainment Andy Payne (No relation to Max. sub.ed.) believes the industry is already offering blockbuster games at fair prices.

"Look at FIFA, Modern Warfare, Black Ops, those games people are playing all the time. That's great value," he told BBC.

Video game execs believe online piracy costs the industry hundreds of jobs and millions of pounds in the UK alone.

More here.