First print — 2-Day Gold Trial

Two tells. The first is on the back of the box and takes a second to check.

The Xbox LIVE strip reads "Includes 2-Day Gold Trial to play online with your friends." It sits on the right-hand end of the green Xbox LIVE band, about halfway down the back. Collectors treat that line as the early-run marker, and sealed copies are listed as "first print Gold Trial" on the strength of it.

The spine is reported to read 001 or 002. This one is second-hand: it is not visible in either photograph of this copy, so it is recorded here as reported and still wants a spine shot before anyone leans on it.

Supporting evidence on the back, bottom left: 0313 Part No X18-85885-01 HGTN. A Microsoft part number opens with the month and year the box was made, so 0313 is March 2013 — roughly three months before the disc reached North American shelves on 4 June 2013, which is what an early box ought to say.

The front carries the NTSC marker at the top right and the ESRB Everyone 10+ badge at the bottom left; the back states "For use only with Xbox 360 entertainment systems with 'NTSC' designation."

Identified by AM (Mt. McKinley Investments), who named both tells. The trial line and the part number are confirmed against photographs of the copy; the spine code is not.

The disc release was announced for 30 April 2013 and delayed — North America got it on 4 June 2013, and Canada on 25 June.

Source: Collector report, with photographs of the copy.