On Saturday, a delivery truck containing an estimated 6,000 copies of Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was seized by thieves after crashing into a car as it traveled through Créteil, south Paris, France. The two masked individuals emerged from the offending car and used tear gas to neutralize the truck's driver and passengers. Once the scene was secured, the thieves jumped on the truck and ran off with all 6,000 copies.
The news follows reports that some retail outlets are already selling Activision's new Call of Duty shooter just days before its official November 8 street date. Last week Microsoft's Stephen Tolouse, director of Policy and Enforcement for Xbox Live, said that "playing early may impact your [Xbox LIVE] account" even if consumers bought the game legitimately.
But after a sudden negative backlash by consumers, developer Infinity Ward quickly followed up saying that there are no plans to ban [early] legit fans. "Try to wait til midnight launch on Tuesday to play #MW3," said Infinity Ward creative strategist Robert Bowling via Twitter. "Can't wait to jump online with everyone then!"
Just weeks ago Activision experienced another "theft" of Modern Warfare 3 thanks to an employee at a shipping warehouse in California. According to reports, the employee stole disk two of the PC version, created an image and then uploaded it online. Sources claim that security may have been to tight for the employee to retrieve the other disc. Activision is currently tracking down those already playing illegal copies of the game, asking them to trash the unofficial copy or face a $5,000 fine and a potential permanent online ban.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is slated to arrive on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS and Windows PC on November 8 here in the States and in Europe.
