Culture Starfield Leaker Booked On Felony Charge After Allegedly Trying To Sell Stolen Copies - The man who uploaded the first 45 minutes of Bethesda's spacefaring RPG went on a wild social media spree

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The saga of a now infamous Starfield leaker has ended up with a 29-year-old man booked on a felony charge after allegedly trying to sell stolen copies of the game online prior to its September 1 release date.

Darin Harris was processed by the Shelby County, Tennessee Sheriff’s Office on August 24, roughly four days after he originally posted the first 45 minutes of Starfield online. The information on the Sheriff Office’s website lists a felony charge for $2,500-$10,000 worth of stolen property, a misdemeanor charge for $1,000 or less of stolen property, and a misdemeanor charge for possession of marijuana.

Harris could not immediately be reached for comment. Bethesda and Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The leak of the highly anticipated open-world sci-fi RPG went viral on August 22, with the grainy cellphone footage getting re-posted to various social media sites even after it was taken down from YouTube for copyright infringement. A 60-second clip on Imgur was viewed over 1 million times. Something that immediately jumped out to viewers about the video was that Harris didn’t seem to have any idea what he was doing, or much familiarity with Bethesda’s RPGs in particular, or modern shooters in general. In the aftermath, Harris shared another video online commenting on the initial leak.

“Todd, no offense man, that’s a good game,” he said, referencing Starfield game director Todd Howard. “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 it.”



Things then took a turn as Harris began uploading listings for additional copies of the game, including the coveted Constellation Edition complete with a custom-made NASA-punk space watch, to the Japanese e-commerce platform Mercari. A few of them now show as sold for roughly their retail price, including one listing that reads “RESERVED for Chris‼️ Starfield Xbox Series X/S Bundle.” The account included hundreds of listings for other merchandise as well.

Subsequent videos posted by Harris seemingly showed him going to FedEx to pay for shipping of copies that successfully sold. Fans of the game and major leaks more generally suggested it was a scam. After all, how could he have gotten access to so many copies early? One video then showed him putting labels on packages with a pile of Starfield copies in the seat next to him.

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A screenshot of Mercari listings shows a bunch of copies of Starfield.

“Y’all thought I’d be out here putting stuff on the internet and it ain’t real, nah baby that ain’t how we do it, that ain’t how we do that,” he said. “Y’all used to playing with little boys.”

Around August 24, Harris began clearing out his social media accounts, including deleting all of the videos on his apparent YouTube channel. By then it may have already been too late. It’s unclear if Bethesda, which made and publishes Starfield, or Microsoft, which owns Bethesda, tipped local authorities off to an alleged misdeed. Harris may also have been booked for completely separate charges unrelated to his unusual social media campaign around the game.


 
It's so funny that Tyrone is actually an Irish name.
Whats that bill the butcher said about mother whoring irish niggers again?
Perhaps he was on to something. You wouldn't think the term black irish was supposed to be taken quite that literally
 
I'm not even mad. Bethesda hasn't put out a semi good game since Fallout 4. Seeing some black guy fleece some copies SOMEHOW - like seriously, how- is actually funny
 
I think the hype is not worth it. This smells to me like a Bethesda version of Mass Effect. Same basic shit, travelling around the Milky Way, shooting stuff etc., only with more RPG elements. Elder Scrolls was innovative, this... isn't. Oh, and it doesn't have aliens. FTL travel without aliens = BORING.

That said, this nigger's a fucking idiot. If you're unable to properly leak it, don't even bother trying.
 
I think the hype is not worth it. This smells to me like a Bethesda version of Mass Effect. Same basic shit, travelling around the Milky Way, shooting stuff etc., only with more RPG elements. Elder Scrolls was innovative, this... isn't. Oh, and it doesn't have aliens. FTL travel without aliens = BORING.

That said, this nigger's a fucking idiot. If you're unable to properly leak it, don't even bother trying.
Its a fallout game with no man's sky stuff but with higher budget and less tech
 
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