‘Modern Warfare 3’ Already Stolen From Shipping Company, Pirated.

No one actually thought that the street date for Modern Warfare 3 would arrive without its digital bites and bytes already slathered across torrent sites, right? In fact with something like ten days to go, I’m surprise it hasn’t happened before this. MW3’s on the internet. Hide yo kids, et cetera.

Kotaku:

Look, video games turning up on torrent sites around the days of their release is a given. Happens with almost every game published these days. But no game is bigger in 2011 (at least in terms of sales) thanModern Warfare 3, and the tale of how it’s been lifted and pirated is an interesting one.

According to a report on VentureBeat, a copy (well, half a copy) of  Modern Warfare 3’s  PC version – not due out on shelves for another two weeks – has already made its way out of a shipping warehouse in Fresno, California and found a new home on the internet.

The same report says that investigators working for Activision, scouring torrent sites for traces of the game, are now making their way across America knocking on front doors, politely asking people to either delete their copies or face a $5000 fine.

It’ll still sell a zillion copies, and it could be worse. Gears 3 leaked earlier. Half-Life 2 leaked wayyy earlier.