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CD Projekt warns against streaming Cyberpunk 2077 before release as copies ship early

Heavy Silverhand.

We've finally reached the point where we're less than a week away from the launch of Cyberpunk 2077, and perhaps unsurprisingly given all the release date changes, copies of the game appear to have shipped a little early. In anticipation of any potential leaks stemming from this, CD Projekt Red has requested that players avoid streaming or uploading videos of the game before release day... or else face a corporate take-down task force. I guess that's something you would expect from the world of Cyberpunk.

The source of the early copies, according to customer reports on social media, appears to be American retailer Best Buy. Several customers have uploaded images of their Cyberpunk 2077 boxes, and it's the flashy collector's edition that appears to have turned up ahead of time.

Hmmm, it looks like Best Buy sent me this a little early from r/xboxone

At the time of writing, nobody is attempting to stream the game on YouTube or Twitch - but perhaps that's due to a warning from CD Projekt Red. "We're getting closer and closer to launch and chances are some of you will get your hands on a copy of Cyberpunk 2077 before release day," the Cyberpunk 2077 account tweeted last night. "However difficult this might be for us to achieve, our ambition is for gamers all across the world to have the same spoiler-free experience at the time the game releases.

"This is why we kindly ask you not to stream/let's play, or release any similar content before 9th December, 12pm CET/ 3am PST. We will send MAX-TAC (you know, the guys who take down videos) after everyone who does."

MAX-TAC refers to a special unit police force in the Cyberpunk universe rather than a real-world company, if you were wondering.

While the statement is playful, CD Projekt Red also makes it pretty clear you'll end up with a takedown notice should you attempt to broadcast the game early. The warning comes a little late for the people who streamed the start of the game last week, although frankly the annoying commentary made most of it unwatchable.

As we all know, however, things spread pretty fast on the internet - so if you're trying to keep as spoiler-free as possible before release, now might be the time to set up some Cyberpunk filters on your social media. I'm sure there will be an anti-spoiler implant created at some point in future.