Do groups still manage to release things before their official release or is that over now that physical media isn’t as prevalent?

Any noteworthy examples in the past five years?

I'm not sure about releases before the theaters, but it definitely happens before streaming. For example, a Russian WebRip of Project Hail Mary with the original English audio overlaid was released on public trackers today, and I am already at a 12:1 seed-to-leech ratio.

So, that is about a month ahead of when it may come to Amazon.

Wouldn't a "WebRip" have to come from a streaming service by definition?

Hmm, that makes sense. It is labeled as, "Project Hail Mary 2026 1080p WEB AC3 H264-DJT.mkv", so I don't know what to tell you.

Death Stranding 2 had a scene release before the official release less than a month ago.

IIRC a few videogames, usually the AAA titles, offer preloaded files on Steam to those who pre-ordered it. The files come encrypted and get unencrypted on launch day. I'm not sure how many times it happened, but do it can happen, like it happened to Death Stranding 2, that some mistake happens and the unencrypted files are served instead.

Edit: besides this example, the only early releases I remember are from a screw up from the online service or a member of the team working on the title, either from the main studio or from other contracted studios. But these aren't really releases from scene groups.

Used to hang out on IRC servers in the late 90s. #zeraw on Undernet was a classic. We'd exchange compromised FTP server details where other users had uploaded games.

Oh, the good old days. Where you could find these ftp servers with legal portscans and default credentials.