PlayStation president Shuhei Yoshida reveals that the early copies of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End currently being sold in the UK were stolen while in transit.

Even though Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is not due for release until May 10th, various retailers in the UK have already been stocking their shelves with the game. Furthermore, Amazon has reportedly shipped Uncharted 4 pre-orders to customers in both the US and the UK, also breaking the May 10th street date in the process. How did these retailers get their hands on early copies of Uncharted 4? Well, apparently, it involves some real-world thievery.

This is according to PlayStation president Shuhei Yoshida, who claims that the early copies of Uncharted 4 were stolen while in transit. Since the matter is an ongoing police investigation, no further details were revealed. So at this time, it's hard to say how the stolen Uncharted 4 copies landed in the hands of UK retailers.

As a game that literally has the word "thief" in it and even a Plunder mode, some might find it a little amusing that Uncharted 4, of all games, has been the subject of a heist. However, it must be painful for the developers at Naughty Dog that have spent so long making the game to know that spoilers will now be out in the wild a couple of weeks before everyone else gets their copy of the game.

Naughty Dog wants Uncharted 4 to be an emotional experience for everyone that plays it, but if trolls on the Internet become savvy to the game's big plot points, the story could be ruined for a large portion of Naughty Dog's fans. Yoshida is aware of this risk, and has asked fans to not even purchase early copies of the game if they are given the chance, in an attempt to keep spoilers off the Internet.

As it stands, those that purchase early copies of the game will be missing out on some features anyway. For example, it has been reported that players can't unlock trophies in the early copies of Uncharted 4 at this time, and that the game's servers haven't been switched on yet either. This means that those wanting to play Uncharted 4's multiplayer mode will still have to wait for the game's proper release date.

With Naughty Dog hinting in the past that Uncharted 4 could see the death of Nathan Drake, it does seem like a game that has a ton of potential for spoilers. Fans will be eager to see if Drake survives the last Uncharted game or not, so hopefully people that do have early copies in the UK and elsewhere are respectful of others, and don't seek to ruin the experience for fellow gamers.

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is due for release on May 10th, exclusively for PlayStation 4.

Source: PlayStation Blog