Copies of Grand Theft Auto V have been shipped to gamers this weekend, breaking Rockstar's September 17 street date.

The early copies were allegedly shipped by online retail giant Amazon, according to pictures of the game that have been posted online on Saturday.

It is not unusual for Amazon to ship games just ahead of their release dates to ensure their arrival on the release date itself. In this case, copies of GTA V appear to have turned up in customers' mailboxes four days early.

Rockstar has said it's investigating. "We are in the process of investigating early 'sales' to determine how and why that is occurring," the publisher told Games Industry.

Sony confirmed earlier today that pre-loading of the PS3 Grand Theft Auto 5 through the PlayStation Network has been delayed until September 16.

The delay follows the leak of GTA 5 details through a PlayStation Store error. In August gamers who pre-ordered the game via the EU PlayStation Store were apparently accidentally given access to files that revealed game details, which were inevitably posted online.

Rockstar has confirmed a US and European GTA 5 release date of September 17 on Xbox 360 and PS3. The game will launch in Japan on October 10.

Posted: Sep 15, 2013 8:26 pm
Related Forum: Grand Theft Auto Forum

Source: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/429390/gta-v-copies-sold-early-rockstar-investigating/