So...two guys just made off with 6000 copies of MW3

[Starik20X6]

The next step is pretty simple. A lot of fake eBay accounts, a lot of listings for brand new unopened copies of MW3 a day or two after launch, sold at a steady stream over the next few months, at a lower price than retail to ensure they sell a lot. The fact that they had tear gas makes me feel like they've got the resources to not get caught.

UNLESS! It's a publicity stunt, because the timing of this and that idiot paying $1700 for a copy, smells a bit like they're drumming up a lot of "look how far people will go to get our game" marketing...

 

[magicmonkeybars]

Well since they didn't kill anyone in the attempt I'd say that was a pretty good heist.
I wonder if we should call it an art theft or don't we consider MW3 to be art ?

 

[Fishyash]

I can't believe that this is happening, first the accidental sales and now this...

To be honest I think it might be pretty good for activision, publicity wise. It shows how far people would go to get the game.

But yeah, this is just ridiculous now.

 

[Korten12]

"6000 copies of Modern Warfare 3 have been stolen" - Average Escapists response "Take that, its what people get for enjoying such a crappy game franchise, why would anyone miss these at all? Good riddance"

"6000 copies of Skyrim have been stolen" - Average Escapists response "Oh hell no, these guys deserve to burn in hell, i will personally find and murder these two for stealing from my beloved God that is Bethesda"

Me personally, I think this is a shame for the people who's preorders will be delayed because of this, I really wonder though whether the thieves were just that hardcore about CoD that they needed 6000 copies, or if they just didnt care what was in the truck.

Hell, I bet most of the escapist actually would have helped them if they had the chance. That's how out of hand the COD hate has gotten.

This is why I don't play Modern Warfare... the community is full of idiots like these hijackers. Or 12 year olds that want to do horrible sexual things to your mother.

Wow stereotyping much?

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

It's probably a publicity stunt. If not, then those two guys are the world's biggest idiots. You're not supposed to steal a large shipment of anything if you don't know already who the buyers are. How the hell can they sell these and remain 100% anonymous? They can't. All it takes is one copy to be identified as stolen and they're going down.

 

[Floppertje]

this makes a hell of a lot more sense than that guy who bought the early copy for more than 1700 bucks. I know, I know... personal preference, opinions and stuff... but that much money for a CoD game?? it doesn't even make any sense. it would take more time to make that much money than it would to wait for the actual release. besides, there's no MP yet and all you could do is play the campaign. sounds like someone has money to burn.
as for the hijackers... 12000 copies at say... 40 bucks, is stull 480 grand... If they can unload them all without getting caught, they'll have done pretty damn well for themselves. of course they probably will get caught, as it's a bit obvious when you try to sell a ton brand new games under the market price...

 

[Scrustle]

Really? I thought buying the game for $1700 was stupid and now this... It seems there's no end to the insanity this game is causing. And they're not even hyping the game (yet) as much as they did the last one.

 

[Ickorus]

It could be a very clever stunt by Activision but if it's real it's very likely much less about the game and more about how much money it's worth, same as if someone robbed a security van except this one was much less protected against such eventualities as being targetted by professionals.

The reason they would have targetted a van with copies of this game would be because they know they can easily sell it off to mugs who won't ask questions.

 

[krazykidd]

They're all in French... who wants to buy a French version of Modern Warfare 3? You could learn French, which would probably take a few years.... or you could just wait a couple of days and get a perfectly legitimate copy.

or they could sell it to people in france or it's surrounding area. or Quebec

You guys know the game language will change depending on the setting of your xbox right? Also it's rare i see people mentioning quebec( where i live btw ) +10 internet points to you.

 

[krazykidd]

It could be a very clever stunt by Activision but if it's real it's very likely much less about the game and more about how much money it's worth, same as if someone robbed a security van except this one was much less protected against such eventualities as being targetted by professionals.

The reason they would have targetted a van with copies of this game would be because they know they can easily sell it off to mugs who won't ask questions.

Hell i don't even want the game but if some shaddy looking guy sells me one of these on the street i wouldn't say no.

 

[KarmaTheAlligator]

Funny how it happened in France, I didn't expect that. And they left the car there too (probably not theirs, but still). Poor job, guys, poor job.

"Poor job" doesn't reapply until they get caught. Until then, the situation says it was a perfectly adequate job.

True, but they still left a car full of potential evidence. I probably should have said poor planning.

Except even in your own post, you acknowledged it was probably stolen. No reason to assume that anything was left behind. And with what has so far happened, only details point to their plan working quite well.

Now if it turns out that it was their own car and/or crashing it wasn't actually intended, then yeah they might be rather stupid and have just gotten lucky so far. But in the meantime, they did what they set out to do and now have a hundreds of thousands of dollars in loot, nothing poor about that.

I'm not assuming anything (the article says they left with the van they hijacked), and I know the games got stolen anyway. But the fact is they still left a car behind with potential incriminating evidence inside (even if it's not their car, there could still be something left inside). Considering there were 2 of them they could have done something about it.

 

[Gorilla Gunk]

Wouldn't these guys be really easy to catch?

I mean I assume they're going to sell the games online or something. Going to be kind of hard to sell 6000 copies of a single game without being noticed.

 

[MammothBlade]

They probably meant to steal Saints Row: The Third. That's the sort of game that brands itself "steal me". The thieves are kicking themselves because they went and stole the wrong damn game!

 

[Sinspiration]

Question, where the hell did these guys happen to get tear gas just to rob a truck?
I'd understand if it was pepper spray.. But actual tear gas?