The game industry has come a long way with its news, starting out from magazines and TV commercials to constant Twitter updates and news posts from websites every hour. Suffice to say that we have a generous amount of game information at our disposal 24/7 and we can have multiple sources give us information in the way we prefer. Abundant amongst all the legitimate gaming news is also the likes of leaks and rumors, which are beginning to happen all too often. It’s always exciting to see the breaking news headline that reads ‘New game images discovered’ for our most anticipated title and it immediately sparks up conversation. The problem is, are these leaks actually good for the game industry?
In the past few weeks we’ve had a surprising amount of leaks and rumors. Just recently the newest Call of Duty was discovered to carry the codename ‘BlackSmith’ and was reported to have an announcement coming soon. From last week, we had the news of a possible Prince of Persia being developed, which led to the Ubisoft Engineer’s Twitter account being shut down. There was also the rumor of the Batman Arkham Knight delay which was then debunked and led to suggestions of an Injustice sequel. Whether these leaks and rumors are a result of loose lips within the industry’s close circles or the are just cleverly planned publicity stunts, it’s beginning to happen more frequently than ever before. Kotaku discovered the first images of Assassin’s Creed Unity, a game which at the time was announced but was then given an official reveal trailer by Ubisoft not too long after. Some might say that Ubisoft’s hand was forced by this leak whilst others believe they had planned this all along.
So who controls these leaks? Granted it’s most likely that anyone can leak information if they happen to discover it, but sometimes people wonder where all these apparent ‘leaks’ come from. Usually the leaks contain vital information about a game or series which the developer would most likely not want to be known ahead of its time. Which leads to two questions: Do the developers not care if something is leaked? Or, if they do care, why aren’t more measures taken for damage control? Say that the leaks are planned by the developers themselves; why would they be leaks at all instead of official news? Perhaps it has to do with the connotation of a ‘leak’, as it gives off the idea of secret information, discovering a small piece of the puzzle, as if in a spy thriller. It’s certainly good for game conversation and it can often turn a game with little to no online activity to a massive spike within Google trends. Essentially, having leaks gets people talking and researching more about a game, even if the information turns out to be false when the game releases.
It got people talking about the series, which has been quiet for some time now
On the other hand, a lot of people aren’t as pleased with leaks and rumors. Some may avoid the whole issue like the plague and wait for more concrete sources, while others are vehemently opposed to the idea. It’s in line with the notion that ‘nothing is sacred anymore’, that we as gamers are so ravenous for gaming news that we latch on to any bit of info and spread it around without the permission of the game developers. To some extent it might seen unethical that people who have gotten to have a private viewing of a game just break the non-disclosure agreement and spread around images and videos. Despite this, very little is done to combat these leaks besides developers refusing to comment on the rumor or promptly removing any videos that might exist of their content. Images are much harder to stop because, as they say, once it’s on the internet it’s there forever. It must be tough to be a developer and watch as all of your secrets are being exposed prematurely, most likely a frustrating experience for everyone involved.
So here’s how it seems: leaks and rumors are fun for gaming fans as it gives them a sneak peek at exclusive info before official releases and it generates a lot of activity for a game. However, leaks are hard for developers to deal with and it can spoil the surprise of a work in progress, leading to rash decisions by publishers to try and cover it up or ignore it. A leak is definitely an exciting thing, but not everyone is too happy with knowing about it. What about you? Do you think that leaks or rumors are good for the game industry? Let us know in the comments.