We have heard from a number of sources (which seems to be confirmed by other sites on the Internet) that a number of retail locations are already getting their shipments of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 ahead of the actual street release date for the game.

Whether or not retailers knowingly and unknowingly are breaking street date, the problem continues to be an issue for publishers and developers. To address this issue, we are now starting to see developers add a “regional street date release check” into games as a way to stop those from playing (at least online) till the game is officially released.

While small and independent retailers have been the primary source of the problem over the years, we are now hearing and that mistakes by big box retailers are also becoming commonplace.

Breaking the street date for release continues to be a serious problem for publishers and developers; and expect the publishers and developers to continue to put more effort into foiling efforts to play big titles before the release date.