X360: Halo 3 scandal - Games being sold on auctions, end videos on YouTube, webleaked
Source: VG.no (translated by me).
Last weekend, it got known that the Norwegian electronic store chain, Expert, had sold some copies of the upcoming game Halo 3 a week and a half before the official release date.
The news spread around the world, and the lucky owners told everyone about the game content on various forums.
For Microsoft, this is a big crisis. They have tried as hard as they could to keep the game from being sold on beforehand, due to fear of the game's story and the game itself being leaked to the web before the release date 25 September in the USA and the day after in Europe.
Today, Microsoft wakes up to some really bad news:
- A pirated copy of the game has been leaked to the Internet.
- The whole Halo 3 ending video has been uploaded to YouTube.
- Two copies of the game are being sold to the highest-bidding person on the Norwegian auction-service Finn.no.
It is not known where the pirate copy is from, but it looks to be an American (NTSC) version of the game. The YouTube video and the Finn.no copies, however, are most likely from the people who bought the game from Expert.
- As far as we can see by looking at our store systems, the mistake has happened twice. One nearby Stavanger, and the other in Oslo, marked director of Expert, Trond Bentestuen, says to VG.
He says that between five and eight games have been sold from the store chain, and that it was caused by human mistake. He is now working to get the games back from their owners.
- We are cooperating with Microsoft to get 110 percent control over the faults that have happened through our store chain. We strongly apologize what has happened, Bentestuen says.
- Are you considering to purchase the copies of the game that have been put out for sale on Finn?
- It is not impossible we might. We absolutely do whatever we can, Bentestuen says, while also making it clear that the customers that bought the game, have done nothing illegal.
- Will the case have consequences for those that sold the game?
- We are debating it. We first have to find out whether it was caused because they didn't know, or if they did it on purpose, Bentestuen says.
PS: Microsoft still hasn't answered our query for a comment on the case.
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Over at the site ITavisen, they can also confirm that Expert has made a deal with the two persons selling the game on Finn. ITavisen is also informed that more than five copies have been sold, but exactly how many is unknown.
Bentestuen makes it clear that the pirated version leaked to the web, does not come from the Expert-sale.
Readers, please do not post any links to neither the YouTube video with the ending without spoiler marking it, nor to the pirated version of the game!
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