The man who leaked the first 40 minutes of Bethesda’s highly anticipated RPG Starfield was arrested yesterdaynot for leaking spoilers, but for stealing the game.
As First reported by KotakuDarrin Harris, 29, was booked yesterday in Shelby County, Tennessee a crime involving theft of property valued at $2,500 to $10,000one negligent theft of property valued at $1,000 or less and one other Misdemeanor of possession of marijuana, according to information on the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office website. IGN received the arrest incident report, which details the stolen property “Video Game: Unreleased Microsoft Starfield Gameplay”.
While it is unclear at this time what further legal ramifications Harris will face, Today he posted $10,000 bailaccording to the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office website.
The leaked images first appeared online on Tuesday, taken by a mobile phone and posted to Harris’ YouTube account. It was quickly removed for copyright infringement, but not before filming spoilers, screenshots, etc became more widespread (And they still exist, so be careful if you want to play Starfield with as little information as possible).
The problem was not just leaking it, but selling it.
After some criticized Harris for his playing style, criticism ensued For most of the images, he found it difficult to understand the mechanicsposted a video reaching out to Todd Howard discussing the issue:
“Todd, no offense, it’s a good game,” he then said. “Perfect timing, getting off the ground and all, that’s a good thing. Very good, good moves. They said I play as a beginner because I’m not an expert in games, I just tried it. It’s a good game.” You shouldn’t miss it. Starfield looks very good.
The person who posted the Starfield gameplay on YouTube uploaded an answer video. “Todd, no offense man, that’s a good game.” #starfield #Xbox pic.twitter.com/EuwxOhC7BJ
— Rebs Gaming (@Mr_Rebs_) August 22, 2023
Since then, Harris accounts have existed on YouTube and other social networks were deletedbut according to Kotaku, Harris went one step further began trying to sell copies of Starfieldincluding the Constellation Edition for $300, in Mercari. While it’s unclear how Harris obtained the copies or if Microsoft notified the Shelby County Police Department of his conduct, it is certain He didn’t hide at all that he owned the game.
Starfield will be available in Early Access for PC and Xbox Series X/S on September 1st, before a general release on September 6th.
