It seems that Valve Software's hotly anticipated Half-Life 2 may have escaped early from some retailers, with the official Steam forums currently on fire with reports from a number of punters that they've already purchased the game. As form of proof, at least one fan has provided what appears to be genuine evidence that the sequel is in their clutches - via photographs (which are linked to in this thread in the Steam forums).
But there's one small problem. Activation/authentication (or unlocking) of the game via Steam is required before play can commence, and as far as we know users won't be able to do this until Half-Life 2's official launch date - November 16. So although people may have the discs sitting in front of them, for the moment they're nothing more than decoration pieces of mighty frustration. Or are they...?
Although we have to admit it's news to us, several hardcore fans are saying that Valve has previously stated that should Half-Life 2's street date be broken then the developer would provide the necessary gubbins for people to unlock the game through Steam early.
The forum posters offer no tangible information to back this up, and we can't help but think that the very reason Valve would slap authentication on Half-Life 2 is to try and prevent this kind of thing happening in the first place.
We've been in contact with representatives from Vivendi and are awaiting a statement.
We'll keep you updated on this potentially atomic situation.
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