The title of this article is probably a bit misleading. I understand the point of embargoes, sorry about that! The question I’m asking is: ‘What’s the point of embargoes when they are blatantly disregarded?’.  Modern Warfare 2 is officially available tomorrow, but many have already played and completed the game through retailers ignoring the street dates and, as a result, many reviews and opinions have already been posted online.

Activision’s Rob Bowling has stated:

Any store selling Modern Warfare 2 early is in violation of street date. There are no ’special permissions’.

So, what’s the punishment? Sure, it helps that most of the news coming from these premature playthroughs is positive; but would they have been so lenient had they been bad?

A few high-profile gamers such as Charlie Brooker, Jon Hicks (OX360 Magazine Editor) and Ben Fritz (LA Times) have told how they managed to get their hands on early copies and some of the offending retailers are now known to Activison.

I’m not hating on Modern Warfare 2, nor the retailers, nor those that manage to get their hands on a copy; my gripe is with the Publishers. Of course, there is no word of whether or not Activision have punished those involved or that they plan to, but what is the point of ‘Street Dates’ and midnight openings when people realise they can bypass all of this?