Starfield leaker faces felony charges for stealing 67 copies of unreleased game

polygon.com:

The Starfield leaker was arrested last week not for uploading 45 minutes of the unreleased game, but for stealing 67 copies of it, according to a police report obtained by Polygon. Darin Harris, 29, was arrested days after uploading the footage and charged with felony theft — for theft, not leaking.

Dozens of Starfield copies were stolen from a warehouse in Memphis, Tennessee, owned by Vantiva, a logistics company that handles supply chain management and fulfillment. The 67 copies of the game are valued at $2,500, according to an incident report from the Memphis Police Department. (The actual value is likely higher. If all copies were standard editions, the total retail value would be more than $4,600. Starfield’s collector’s edition sells for $299.99.)

After obtaining the game, Harris uploaded 45 minutes of footage on Aug. 22, and the cellphone video of his screen quickly went viral — both for the nature of the footage and for the player’s perceived lack of skill. Harris allegedly sold several copies of Starfield on e-commerce platform Mercari, Kotaku reported. He later posted videos of himself shipping out copies of the game.

“Todd, no offense, man. That’s a good game,” Harris said in one video while smoking a blunt, apparently referring to Starfield game director Todd Howard. “Perfect timing, about leaving Earth and all that.” Harris continued, “They were saying I play like a beginner, ’cause I’m not a game expert; I was just trying something out. That’s a good game — y’all don’t want to miss that. Starfield, for real.”

Harris began shutting down his social media accounts days later, before being arrested and booked on Aug. 24. Local news outlet Memphis Commercial Appeal reported that police got a warrant to search