Right now, some people are playing Metal Gear Solid 4 — days ahead of its June 12th drop date. While Konami's UK General Manager Pete Stone is doing his all to keep the street date, it seems to have been broken somehow — whether that be through accidental or nefarious means. According to a Konami spokesperson:
Unfortunately, these things happen. As much as we like see that no one breaks streets dates, no one can monitor every single moment that a title gets packed up for shipment and when its on its way to the stores... The store could be at fault as well, for letting someone get a copy before the street date.
These days, it's pretty much a given that a big title will end up on the internet before its release.
Konami on broken MGS4 street date [GameRush via Dtoid]