The infamous leaker who revealed 45 minutes of Bethesda’s upcoming Starfield has been arrested after allegedly attempting to sell stolen copies of the sci-fi action-RPG.
According to Kotaku, Darin Tyrone Harris was arrested in Shelby County, Tennessee, with a felony charge for theft of property valued at between $2,500 and $10,000. Additional charges included theft of property valued at less than $1,000 and possession of marijuana. These charges also appeared on Recently Booked. Harris, Bethesda, and Microsoft did not immediately respond to that outlet’s request for comment.
On August 22, leaked gameplay from Starfield began appearing online. The videos were soon taken off YouTube via copyright claims from ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda. Still, footage has reappeared on several other platforms since its posting. Harris, who was identified as the leaker, is said to have later listed copies of Starfield, including the special Constellation Edition, on Mercari, an online marketplace headquartered in Japan. It’s unclear at this time if Harris’ arrest is related to the leaks and the appearance of those copies of the game online.
There have been several high-profile instances of companies pursuing leakers through legal means in recent years. A teenager from London, United Kingdom, suspected of leaking GTA 6 information was arrested in 2022. Earlier this year, Wizards of the Coast hired the Pinkerton detective agency to confiscate leaked cards, resulting in controversy for the company.
Starfield is slated for official release on Sept. 6, with early access being available to some players as early as Sept. 1.
