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Starfield Leak Hype Turns Sour: Leaker Faces Serious Criminal Charges

The author of the Starfield leak, accused of a serious crime after sharing 45 minutes of gameplay.

Starfield Leak Hype Turns Sour: Leaker Faces Serious Criminal Charges
Chema Carvajal Sarabia

Chema Carvajal Sarabia

With the release of Starfield finally on the horizon, fans are eagerly anticipating playing the highly awaited science fiction RPG. However, it seems that some are willing to go to illegal extremes, and that comes with legal consequences.

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Starfield has been in the making for over 20 years, so it’s understandable that the RPG from Bethesda holds a prominent spot on the shopping list of many Xbox and PC fans.

Considering that Bethesda was acquired by Microsoft a few years ago, and that this Starfield is truly the flagship game for the console in 2023, the hype isn’t just understandable—it’s warranted. However, up to a certain extent.

45 minutes of glory, life as punishment and consequence

According to Kotaku, Darin Harris uploaded 45 minutes of Starfield gameplay to the internet after obtaining an early copy, and then attempted to sell copies of the game to other fans. The source of these copies has not been confirmed.

He now faces charges for serious crimes. Harris was charged in the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office in Tennessee yesterday, four days after the 45-minute gameplay video was uploaded to YouTube (which has since been removed).

The sheriff’s office website details that the felony charge is for a value between $2,500 and $10,000 of stolen property, a misdemeanor charge for hosting stolen property up to $1,000, as well as an additional misdemeanor charge for marijuana possession.

A game that promises to be released without bugs

Recently, it has been confirmed that Starfield has gone gold, which means it has completed its final development phase and is ready for release.

Although, as is customary with games nowadays, we can expect a series of post-launch updates to address any unforeseen issues, as Bethesda aims for Starfield to have the fewest number of bugs possible.

Starfield will be released on September 6, 2023, for PC and Xbox Series X|S. Unless you’ve reserved the Premium or Constellation edition, in which case the release date is September 1. Starfield will also be available on Xbox Game Pass.

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Chema Carvajal Sarabia

Chema Carvajal Sarabia

Journalist specialized in technology, entertainment and video games. Writing about what I'm passionate about (gadgets, games and movies) allows me to stay sane and wake up with a smile on my face when the alarm clock goes off. PS: this is not true 100% of the time.

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