Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End may not officially launch for two more weeks, but the game is already in some fans’ hands due to a variety of mix-ups, intentionally broken release dates and outright theft. Simply put, Sony’s biggest game launch of the year has turned into a bit of a cluster.
Let’s start with the juiciest story – apparently a significant number of Uncharted 4 copies were stolen while in transit to stores in the UK. Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida confirmed this, said they’re working with British police to resolve the matter, and that “a few” of the stolen copies have already surfaced on the streets. Actually announcing the details of a theft like this is a pretty rare move, but Sony did so, so fans would know footage that might end up popping up online is in fact real, and may contain spoilers.
“An extremely talented team has worked long and hard to bring Nathan Drake’s greatest adventure to life and we would urge you to help us prevent this from being spoiled by not purchasing copies of the game ahead of the launch date. Please rest assured we will be very vigilant to protect you from this as far as we can so you can enjoy Uncharted 4’s experience to its fullest on May 10th.”
You’ve been warned! It’s probably best to stay away from any Uncharted 4 footage from mysterious pop-up YouTube channels with no followers.
This theft isn’t the only way fans are getting the game early — there are widespread reports of game retailers breaking Uncharted 4‘s street date. Even Amazon and Redbox sent out messages that they were releasing the game early, although later retracted them. Whether any early Amazon shipments slipped through is unknown, but it wouldn’t be outside the realm of possibility.
So yeah, none of this is making the wait until Uncharted 4‘s official May 10 release date any easier. Until then, keep your head down, avoid spoilers, and if you really need the game, maybe check out the shelves at your local mom ‘n’ pop game store.