Is it legal to play games before they come out?

You would likely be in violation of an agreement between Gamestop and the game manufacturer and your business would likely incur fines or other penalties.

Your branch would get in trouble and then your branch would get you in trouble.

@The_Compassionate_Heretic
I thought something like that. Thanks.

If you have to ask than you probably already know the answer.

@NaturalMineralWater
well I remember there was something about Halo 3: ODST and some people got it “legally” before it came out and they didn’t get into any kind of trouble. Was wondering if this was “legal” in the same way. From a distributor. I know Infinity Ward is resetting the leaderboards when the game comes out, so a handful of people already have it.

I remember this happening when Halo 2 was released. My friend talked a Gamestop employee into giving him a copy like a week early, and he was playing on XBL with (I guess) the devs.

It was kind of a big deal on the Internet because he posted pictures of it. He got in no trouble and his account wasn’t banned but I believe the employee who sold it to him early was fired.

I’m assuming you are referring to the mass banning Microsoft did last week? If I remember correctly the store bought games in that event could be differentiated from the pirated versions, and I think that even if you got banned by accident you could get your ban lifted with proof of purchase. This is all very subjective, I don’t even own an xbox.

But like the @The_Compassionate_Heretic said, the store could get in a lot of trouble.

Well I have to use this job on future resumes, so it’d probably be a good idea to not piss off my boss and get him in trouble. Hahaha. Darn. Really wanted to play games early….

It’s only three more days, right?

If you violate the terms of the license, your use of the game is almost certainly copyright infringement, which is a federal crime. Do you have a link to the license?

@Dominic No. Not that I know of.

@markyy Yes. Three very long days. Hahahaha.

I work at a store that doesn’t normally buy games, but the employees can order the games from our distributor and get them the same day the stores get them (before they come out). Not sure if it’s even legal for my boss to let us do that, so I was asking to check. Customers don’t get things early, just employees. I ordered mine from Gamestop, so I won’t get mine until the 10th anyway, but then I got to thinking maybe I’ll do it next time. Then wondered if it was legal. Fluther knows so much, thought I’d consult yall.

I would just ask the boss. I mean, you work at the store, so you can just say, “Hey, can I take this home today? I already paid for it.” And your boss will either say yes or no. Done and done.

Beta testers get it early. For all others, its less than legal. The end.

I have some friends on my Xbox Live account that work at a Gamestop and I’ll occasionally catch them playing a game a day or two before it’s actual release so I don’t think it’s too big a deal. They do it more often than you’d think.

This whole ordeal is kind of stupid anyway, it’s not like a shipment of teapot’s have to be hold back until a certain date. They are taking up space and the sooner they sell, the better. I understand the stores are obligated to live up to the agreement they make with the publisher, but this kind of thing only happens with media like games and dvd’s, why is that?

@markyy Because teapots don’t get leaked. They might get leaks, but that’s a different conversation. The problem with media is that once something is out there illegally before the release date, its out there. All the cool stuff that was going to be available to everyone is only available to a select few (at least for a little while). Animosity and ill will build up, pirating of the media goes up as people try to get it first from the people who have it early… Its just a big problem altogether. The main thing is the possibility of people having it early selling unauthorized (pirated) copies and the sellers losing out.

Intellectual property is different than other types of property. This happens with books too. Imagine if the last Harry Potter was smuggled out, typed into a word processor by a speed typer, and CDs were sold for individual profit to those rabid fans who wanted to know HP’s fate. Before too long, people would be able to read it on the internet instead of buying or checking out the book… Big mess, less profit, big no-no.

I would suspect that as long as the company that developed and markets the game gets their fair share of the money it would be somewhat like getting an advance copy of a book so you can review it but then you don’t review it after all, even though you read it.

As long as you don’t make copies and send those out without permission, I doubt there would be much of a problem. In fact, in certain cases I suspect “early” copies of something can sometimes create more of a buzz so more people want to get their hands on it. If done right, that should boost sales on the day of official release.

@avvooooooo That does makes sense, Intellectual property seems to be the common divider. I’m not entirely convinced whether this release policy is successful against piracy. In fact games get pirated before the release date anyway (Modern Warfare and Dragon Age, both new games, were available to download a week ahead of the release date). It’s not uncommon for people that pre-order a game to download the pirated version (after which some might even cancel their order, because they got it for free now or because the game is disappointing). However I do remember sharing gamediscs with my friends before the internet, so I can certainly see why and when this policy was started. And I can certainly see how every day longer it takes for a game to get pirated must be a huge boost in sales.

So why am I typing all of this? Because I disagreed with you when I started posting, but the more I wrote about it, the more I agreed with you. Thank you for taking the time to post!

You will be banned from XBLA. They’ve been dropping banhammers and taking legal action (for those who’ve acquired the title illegally) against those who’ve been playing the game.

Considering it’s quite easy to link your account to your name – and, thus, your store – you will be fired, no question. Your store might get into a bit of trouble, but you’ll probably be shitcanned by then.

My advice: If you really, really can’t wait to play the game, and you have your hands on the title, disconnect your system from the internet so your Achievements don’t pop up on the XBL system. Don’t connect it back until the release date.

Again, you’ll only be able to play through the single-player campaign.

@markyy No problem! :D

You would be banned from Xbox Live, it happened to a person I know. You can still play the disc, but you won’t be able to play online.

@bmhit1991 This article entitled: Stealing Modern Warfare 2? Activision will hunt you down, just popped up in my RSS reader, don’t know if it’s true, legal, more fake publicity or even applies to your case, but I though I would share it with you anyway.

There’s a HUGE difference in obtaining a game illegaly and getting a game from a store that you work at a day or two in advance. If it’s a legal copy of the game that you have legally purchased from your store, then you will not be in violation of anything on xbox Live and your account will not be banned. I’ve seen it happen several times with no disiplinary action of any kind.

@Randy Just because it isn’t punished where you can see doesn’t mean that its right or legal. The company and the store have a contract that stipulates the day that people will be able to access the game. Accessing that before that is breaking the contract. That opens them up to legal repercussions. Again, just because it happens does not mean that its right or legal or that this time it won’t be followed up on. If followed up on, there might be repercussions from the store, there might be repercussions for the individual, but in this situation there would likely be for both.

If they never catch the guy that steals your TV, you won’t see him punished either. But it doesn’t mean he had a right to steal your TV. Or that your employer has a right to not pay you for hours worked, breaking contract. Illegal is illegal.