Support NeoGAF

[Draugoth]

Corporate Secrets is a sieve when it comes to the game's industry,

95% of the PlayStation Showcase leaked 18 hours before

Half of the Games in Summer Game Fest 2024 already leaked

Now the Xbox Showcase is leaking by the hour, we already know the runtime, some of the games and content of the postshow...

It's funny how Rumors nowdays are very different from 20 years ago, back then it most of them were fake and perpetuated in schools and magazines.

Kinda crazy that you can know the contents of a 2 hour showcase without needing to watch it.

Anyone think it's bad how game leaks?

 

[IFireflyl]

We all know that companies are leaking their own information to get people on a hype train. If companies truly wanted to crack down on leaks, it wouldn't be difficult.

 

[Guilty_AI]

And no one even cares enough to look for the leaks

 

[Pejo]

Well the old saying goes "you're only as strong as your weakest link". Just like when physical copies got out early due to walmart stockboys and stuff, you have recent news like the YouTube employees finding stuff on the back end and leaking it that way. I wouldn't be surprised if a janitor walking by an open door to a board room got a leak or two. When you think about most AAA games having hundreds of people involved, who probably tell hundreds of their close friends about it, then those close friends feeling far enough removed to tell others about it, it's no wonder stuff gets leaked these days.

Some companies do an excellent job of combatting leaks, but you never hear anything about them because there's no news. I doubt an article called, "Company successfully releases surprise trailer for their new game wihtout it being leaked first!" would get many clicks.

 

[Gambit2483]

Not surprising considering how stagnant the flow of information has become. We are in E3 season and yet it feels incredibly dry and boring as far as new information and hype.

They all now rely on the Nintendo Direct formula but their execution of it has been largely crap.

 

[March Climber]

I literally stopped looking at gaming GAF earlier this week because of the avalanche of leaks that I felt might happen. I want the showcases to feel fresh and fun. I truly don't even know what the threads are on the first page of gaming, I just stay in off-topic and then use search for recent conferences to see if someone made a thread.

The only reason I'm even in this thread is because it was in my related section to the Guerilla Showcase thread.

I agree with the OP, now back to not looking at anything.

 

[Optimus Lime]

They aren't really 'leaks'. If you seriously think that information is 'leaking' out of places like Microsoft, you're on drugs. This is all PR, and it's all very, very deliberate. You're being played. They're trying to build viral buzz by pretending that OMG THE LIST LEAKED so that you watch their bullshit presentations. That's it.

 

[Bring Back Scalebound]

Anyone think it's bad how game leaks?

I do.
I feel really fucking bad for the developers, and leaks are boring to me.

I'm not saying I don't engage with some of them, mind you. There's an hypocrisy there, from me.

It's a bitter sweet feeling. I would much rather be surprised.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

I hope when the leaks start happening here people do not post unannounced games in the thread title

 

[Draugoth]

I do.
I feel really fucking bad for the developers, and leaks are boring to me.

I'm not saying I don't engage with some of them, mind you. There's an hypocrisy there, from me.

It's a bitter sweet feeling. I would much rather be surprised.

Not really players fault that the information leaks, it's on the leaker.

They aren't really 'leaks'. If you seriously think that information is 'leaking' out of places like Microsoft, you're on drugs. This is all PR, and it's all very, very deliberate. You're being played. They're trying to build viral buzz by pretending that OMG THE LIST LEAKED so that you watch their bullshit presentations. That's it.

Most of the time it isn't, the GTA VI and Starfield for PlayStation 5 are good examples.

 

[Miles708]

Wouldn't someone please think of the poor marketing department

 

[winjer]

I would not be surprised if most of these leaks, are just controlled snippets of marketing.

 

[ByWatterson]

 

[Optimus Lime]

Most of the time it isn't, the GTA VI and Starfield for PlayStation 5 are good examples.

They really aren't. They are very, very different examples when compared to what the OP is referring to. Data theft and ransoming is not the same as a 'leak'.

 

[Holammer]

We all know that companies are leaking their own information to get people on a hype train. If companies truly wanted to crack down on leaks, it wouldn't be difficult.

It's free marketing that everyone gobbles up. If IGN writes a fluff piece for you, there an obvious expectation to buy advertising.

 

[Quantum253]

Not surprising considering how stagnant the flow of information has become. We are in E3 season and yet it feels incredibly dry and boring as far as new information and hype.

They all now rely on the Nintendo Direct formula but their execution of it has been largely crap.

It's felt like that since 2019/2020. Everything is broken up and piecemeal. You usually know almost everything before it's shown and most isn't worth watching to begin with. There are still some gems to come out, but are fewer these days. It reminds me of the Wii shovelware days where you get 1 banger and the rest vapor.

 

[Wooxsvan]

maybe leaks and rumors is one of the main reasons i visit and engage with this website...

 

[FeralEcho]

Well how else will we get announcements. It's not like the industry talks to the fans.

There's so much secrecy in this stupid industry that finding out the location of the Holy Graal is more likely than getting info from some of these companies. It's pathetic.

I'm glad the leaks happen and fuck over all their plans,they reap what they sew when they buried E3.

 

[nush]

Just like when physical copies got out early due to walmart stockboys

It was promo copies and review copies actually. Blaming stockboys was hiding an uncomfortable truth. Helped by the fact that they would show off on social media.

 

[Robb]

Yeah, it sucks. It’s always nicer to get a surprise. But it’s also fun to get rumors/leaks to speculate on. Really depends on how revealing the leak is.

The Nvidia/Geforce leak has been kind of fun, since it was so widespread and you never really know when, or if, a game in the list would/will show up.

 

[Pejo]

It was promo copies and review copies actually. Blaming stockboys was hiding an uncomfortable truth. Helped by the fact that they would show off on social media.

I don't know which example specifically you're talking about, but it's not like I made it up.

Neighbors, gamers shocked after records show Memphis man stole copies of unreleased Starfield video game

GAME OVER: The arrest of a Memphis man accused of stealing unreleased copies of "Starfield" shocked neighbors who thought "he was doing something else" and gamers who had been waiting years for the highly anticipated video game.

www.fox13memphis.com

 

[nush]

don't know which example specifically you're talking about,

Actually working in the games industry, that example.

 

[Pejo]

Actually working in the games industry, that example.

 

[SirKicksalot]

The industry would be better if it worked like the movie industry: make the game public when it enters pre-production. They would hire people faster. They wouldn't have to pay the Doritos Pope that much money for reveals. The employees won't be tangled in a web of NDAs. There won't be complaints about early CGI and logo trailers.
Remember when id used to announce their next game in the current game's manual, or as a tech demo in a random Apple conference? Are Battlefield and COD selling less because everyone knows they're coming?


Only the grifters and the people who make threads about drinks and snacks for a goddamn marketing conference have something to gain through this secrecy.