6,000 copies of Modern Warfare 3 stolen in French heist - Report

Activision has already suffered a setback this week concerning the upcoming release of the highly anticipated Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, with sealed copies of the game surfacing on a number of online auctions two days before launch.

Now, it appears two individuals in France also wanted to get their hands on an early copy of the first-person shooter. French news networks are reporting that two masked men armed with tear gas and knives hijacked a truck near Paris and fled with its cargo, which contained around 6,000 copies of Modern Warfare 3.

According to a report from TF1 news channel, and as translated by GameSpot, two men crashed into a van transporting a cargo of boxed video game copies near Creteil, 10 kilometres southeast of Paris, around 8 a.m. yesterday morning. When the van's driver and occupants left the vehicle after the crash, two masked men used tear gas and drove away in the van, taking the cargo with them.

According to an Agence France Presse (AFP) report, the van's cargo contained 400,000 euros of merchandise, all copies of Modern Warfare 3. The news report estimates the number of copies at around 6,000.

Last week, Infinity Ward representative Robert Bowling spoke for the Modern Warfare 3 developer on Twitter, saying, "No plans to ban legit fans, but try to wait 'til midnight launch on Tuesday to play #MW3."

For more on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.