It’s not supposed to be out yet (pic: Nintendo)

Fans are on edge as photos of Tears Of The Kingdom’s game box and collector’s edition pop up, implying it’s broken its street date.

Given the trend of major game launches breaking their street dates, it’s widely assumed/feared that The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom will follow suit.

The collector’s edition artbook managed to leak early already and while it contained minimal spoilers, the fact it happened at all was enough to cause concern, as it still featured info many would prefer not to have known before launch.

Now it’s claimed that Tears Of The Kingdom has already wound up in someone’s hands, as they’ve posted a photo of the back of the game’s box.

The good news is that the box doesn’t show anything you didn’t already know, since it just briefly sums up established game features. Most of the images on the box have previously been shown in an official capacity and the few new ones don’t reveal any new information.

A separate 4chan thread also claims to have new photos of the collector’s edition, and they look legit.

From someone’s home or just a retailer’s warehouse? (pic: Reddit)

There is some debate online whether these photos simply come from a retailer’s stock. The game is set to launch in just over a week’s time so, at the very least, copies are no doubt arriving at retailers so they can prepare to send out pre-orders.

The Nintendo ninjas are certainly on standby (pic: 4chan)

However, new footage is apparently making the rounds online. Apparently, this is because copies of the game were sold via online auction sites. We managed to spot at least 10 seconds of previously unseen gameplay and while it’s nothing important, it’s only a matter of time before juicier leaks start to hit the internet.

It’s what happened with the likes of Pokémon Scarlet & Violet and The Callisto Protocol, with the latter being streamed in its entirety on Twitch.

More: Gaming

Given how Nintendo operates, anyone lucky enough to get the game early may be too afraid to even attempt sharing much footage. After all, the company is looking to sue the person responsible for the aforementioned artbook leak and, if successful, would likely demand a lot of monetary compensation/and or a jail sentence.

We’ve seen plenty of times what happens to people who cross Nintendo, who have sued emulation sites for millions for distributing its games for free. Recently, Gary Bowser, who was sent to prison for selling hacking devices for Nintendo hardware, revealed he’ll be paying his debt off to Nintendo for the rest of his life.

The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom launches for Nintendo Switch on May 12.

Email [email protected], leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter.

MORE : Cheapest Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom pre-order is 20% off at Currys

MORE : New Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom theories include good Ganondorf and dungeons

MORE : Zelda: Breath Of The Wild YouTuber fears ‘being nuked’ over multiplayer mod

Follow Metro Gaming on Twitter and email us at [email protected]

To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.

For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.

Fans are on edge as photos of Tears Of The Kingdom’s game box and collector’s edition pop up, implying it’s broken its street date.