

The copyright police have been slow to catch up with the torrent technology, but earlier this month “Halo 4” users had heir Xbox Live accounts “permanently suspended,” according to the BBC.

There is an inherent risk in downloading “Black Ops 2” torrents, however, as Microsoft has punished gamers trying to play “Halo 4” online before the game was released. That was obvious on YouTube, where plenty of game play videos were posted before it was possible to play legally. The BBC reported free copies of the game were available for illegal download more than a week before stores like Gamestop and Best Buy began pricing “Black Ops 2” at $59.99. Amazon named “Call of Duty: Black Ops 2” the most preordered game in the company’s history, although those numbers don’t reflect the illegal copies that have leaked onto the Internet and will almost certainly be readily available on torrent websites in the coming days.

The Tuesday release of “Black Ops 2,” the newest installment in the first-person shooter “Call of Duty” series, is expected to break sales records and have game stores refilling the shelves for weeks. The series has predominantly established itself as the premiere arcade-style multiplayer experience, offering rapid gameplay, hectic rounds and a solid matchmaking system. According to Eurogamer, Treyarch has high hopes for “Call of Duty: Black Ops 2”’s multiplayer.
