• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
  • We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.

Almost broke video game NDA close to E3. How does everyone keep their info secret and why do some choose to leak?

golguin

golguin

Member
Oct 29, 2017
3,764
I don't work in the video game industry, but my work does things for video game companies on a fairly regular basis. We get to see things and we don't generally talk about anything we work on, but occasionally we are allowed to show things for PR reasons. We don't always work on things that I'm particularly interested in sharing, but this thing was cool enough on it's own to show. I asked my boss if I could share a photo and he said it was fine just as long as I didn't name any companies or properties. If people happened to guess what it was that was fine. By some strange coincidence an email comes in just as we were talking that specifically stated not to share any media.

My situation would have technically been an accidental leak, but there are people that choose to say things or show things to people with the intention to get it out there before its officially shown. Do people do it knowing they are putting their job at risk? Are they so far removed from the source that they know it will never be traced back to them? How do people decide to keep certain things and leak others?
 
DGenerator

DGenerator

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,922
Toronto, ON, Canada
It's simple not to break an NDA; you be an adult.

A lot of leaks come from people who are not bound to NDAs, therefore they're not bound to secrecy. It's fairly simple.
 
shancake

shancake

Managing Editor ‑ Press Start
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
487
Probably not by creating threads on ResetEra, that will only prompt people to investigate, for a start.
 
EvilChameleon

EvilChameleon

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,793
Ohio
People leak because the idea of secrets in the video game industry (or any industry) is silly. Everything should be announced the moment work gets underway, almost like you hear about movies hiring directors or writers years before the first logo or trailer is released.
 
ASleepingMonkey

ASleepingMonkey

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
4,498
Iowa
I just know I'll never get to do the cool things I like to do if I break an embargo, so I don't.

There have been times where I've scheduled articles to go up sooner than they're meant to but I've always fixed it before it went live.
 
Aaronrules380

Aaronrules380

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
22,574
I feel like most leaks come from QA testers, and given that it's by all accounts kind of a shitty job, I imagine a lot of leakers (as in original sources) are intending to find another job in a different field anyways so they don't care about risking their jobs
 
CHC

CHC

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,249
tell us what it was coward

But nah I wonder this too. There are so many people involved, and like you said, the potential for an accidental leak always seems high in comparison to how often it seems to happen. I mean think of every guy working on the line that is like packing printed media into boxes. There's so many people involved in the trade shows and all of the promotion that comes along with them.
 
Alucrid

Alucrid

Chicken Photographer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,481
by having anything i need to keep confidential boring enough to keep it that way and if it is something interesting not caring enough about anyone online to share it
 
NateDrake

NateDrake

Member
Oct 24, 2017
7,538
golguin said:
I don't work in the video game industry, but my work does things for video game companies on a fairly regular basis. We get to see things and we don't generally talk about anything we work on, but occasionally we are allowed to show things for PR reasons. We don't always work on things that I'm particularly interested in sharing, but this thing was cool enough on it's own to show. I asked my boss if I could share a photo and he said it was fine just as long as I didn't name any companies or properties. If people happened to guess what it was that was fine. By some strange coincidence an email comes in just as we were talking that specifically stated not to share any media.

My situation would have technically been an accidental leak, but there are people that choose to say things or show things to people with the intention to get it out there before its officially shown. Do people do it knowing they are putting their job at risk? Are they so far removed from the source that they know it will never be traced back to them? How do people decide to keep certain things and leak others?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
1. For some, yes.
2. Sometimes.
3. Up to the individual. Some just like to talk about things in a casual manner and share information but have no desire to see it leak or become an internet rumor/report, and others give information with an intention of it getting shared. It's not purely as simple as "I want you to ruin this surprise", but it can be that the person thinks the thing is cool and want to build some early hype/speculation. Others just can't keep a secret and don't care if things get out.
 
finalflame

finalflame

Product Management
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
8,538
I'm bound by NDAs for (some high profile) game companies I've worked for in perpetuity. And a few of them are quite litigious. Lots of information I'd love to share but can't. It's a combination of "not worth the potential legal headache" and respect for the work of my friends and colleagues.

I do love chatting about stuff that's not secret, though. I'm out of the industry now but I still love following/thinking about it.

Edit: Oh, and I've been on the investigative end of leaking. If you're in a vendor or contract role, there's a good chance we'll find you unless you're a exceptionally good at covering your tracks or the company is really bad at investigating.
 
Bard

Bard

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
12,587
Might as well just say what it was OP, now that it's on ERA it's just a matter of time for our elite detectives™
 
Handsome James

Handsome James

Member
Aug 23, 2018
2,392
A combination of people who feel they have nothing to lose, and those who know or think they know that they won't get caught or in serious trouble if they did
 
ShinobiBk

ShinobiBk

One Winged Slayer
Member
Dec 28, 2017
10,130
Some people can't keep a secret even if they're risking their jobs and tarnishing their professional reputation.
That's all
 
MegaRockEXE

MegaRockEXE

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 29, 2017
3,971
Yup. NDAs are no joke. You're right about the accidental leaks happening though. Never again.
 
Kindekuma

Kindekuma

It's Pronounced "Aerith"
Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
4,760
Not leaking shit is simple: just keep your mouth shut. If you signed an NDA, it's a legal reminder to keep doing just that.

I've signed NDA's before, and I've so far been doing pretty good about not talking about the subject in question.
 

StillEdge

Member
Oct 29, 2017
791
I got invited to play a real good game the other day. It's cool because my friends don't give a shit and I have no desire to share anything like that on here.
 
Lant_War

Lant_War

Classic Anus Game
The Fallen
Jul 14, 2018
23,601
EvilChameleon said:
People leak because the idea of secrets in the video game industry (or any industry) is silly. Everything should be announced the moment work gets underway, almost like you hear about movies hiring directors or writers years before the first logo or trailer is released.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Yeah, all the secrecy surrounding sales data is so weird as well. It should all be publicly available info.
 
ImaginaShawn

ImaginaShawn

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,532
I have a foolproof method, I work on boring things that I would never want to talk about outside of work, like document processing software.
 
Mercenary09

Mercenary09

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,395
Lol at this thread. I get hit with NDA's all the time and never have the urge to spill them. That would break so much trust I worked to build up. Seems like a pretty simple thing to me.
 
Burt

Burt

Fight Sephiroth or end video games
Member
Oct 28, 2017
8,191
First person to Paypal me $1000 gets the list of the PS5 launch games and the date it comes out
 
Kindekuma

Kindekuma

It's Pronounced "Aerith"
Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
4,760
What this post does tell me, OP. Is that you struggle with the basic rules and regulations that follow with NDA's. Sure, you didn't exactly BREAK it. But you're announcing it to the world that you almost did and that you could be a liability to trade secrets. Not a good look. If a company or someone here were to put two and two together and know you who you are, you'd be in some deep shit.
 
Ardiloso

Ardiloso

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,368
Brazil
I'm really sour about leakers. I see those individuals as really selfish attention whores who aims to ruin everyones day. They deny us the surprise element and steals the moment from the industry.
Imagine working for years/months on a great thing just to have your work leaked prior to the plans, lessening it's impact with the public.
 

shark97

Banned
Nov 7, 2017
5,327
Lant_War said:
Yeah, all the secrecy surrounding sales data is so weird as well. It should all be publicly available info.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


At it's core, a chain store doesn't want competitors to know how much they sell of anything.

So yeah. They wont give out numbers, So again, yeah.

The manufacturers could give you shipped in numbers easily enough, but they all decided they dont really like doing that either unless they're winning. Even Apple stopped.
 
Kenzodielocke

Kenzodielocke

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,871
If you sign an NDA, then don't talk. If you haven't, consider the fact that people might be hurt and ask them if it's okay to release "x" info. If you get an okay, go for it.
 
Hawk269

Hawk269

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,061
I have signed a few NDA's working on the retail side of the business and never even crossed my mind to post things or talk about them. Going back a while, it was a big deal to get retail buy in on upcoming games as retail were (before digital was a thing) where the money came from and getting large orders for major retailers was a big thing to game companies.
 
Fart Master

Fart Master

Prophet of Truth
The Fallen
Oct 28, 2017
10,333
A dumpster
EvilChameleon said:
People leak because the idea of secrets in the video game industry (or any industry) is silly. Everything should be announced the moment work gets underway, almost like you hear about movies hiring directors or writers years before the first logo or trailer is released.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
That's not really an apt comparison simply because movies typically get trailers a handful of months ahead of time as supposed games which typically get them 2 to 3 years in advance. Another thing is that your comparison with the movie industry ignores that usually we do know what devs are working on well before the game gets a trailer due to hirings and dev interviews.
 
Jawmuncher

Jawmuncher

Crisis Dino
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
38,766
Ibis Island
This is why people leak.
D0gNE1GWsAALXDM.png

Even just a drop is too tempting.
 
OP
OP
golguin

golguin

Member
Oct 29, 2017
3,764
CHC said:
tell us what it was coward

But nah I wonder this too. There are so many people involved, and like you said, the potential for an accidental leak always seems high in comparison to how often it seems to happen. I mean think of every guy working on the line that is like packing printed media into boxes. There's so many people involved in the trade shows and all of the promotion that comes along with them.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

It's for a game that's already announced and known to be at E3. It wasn't any new info, but it was a cool looking thing. If it was something that wasn't announced I wouldn't even think to share anything regarding it.
 
Rust

Rust

Member
Jan 24, 2018
1,243
EvilChameleon said:
People leak because the idea of secrets in the video game industry (or any industry) is silly. Everything should be announced the moment work gets underway, almost like you hear about movies hiring directors or writers years before the first logo or trailer is released.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Games have a MUCH longer turn around time than movies, which can edit scripts on the fly if a scene isn't working out.

Not to mention that for every game released, a studio has around 20 scrapped concepts; some which could be years in development.

People were freaking out about a puddle change in Spider-Man, and you want to have a camera into the studio process for the 3-6 years of development? That's sounds like a nightmare work environment.

Just let them do their damn work in peace, and they'll tell us when it's ready.
 
Phrozenflame500

Phrozenflame500

The Fallen
Oct 28, 2017
2,132
I mean I get the temptation. When my boss told me I couldn't talk about the Kratos Smash DLC before the upcoming E3 announcement I was pissed.
 
Kolx

Kolx

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,505
If I leak the bits of info I know can't be traced to a specific person (like very general things that tons of people know) and use a device and an internet access that is public and use something like 4chan with a 1 time-use email, how are companies be able to trace me back? like I feel investigating this thing must be hard if someone really doesn't wanna be known.
 
Fat4all

Fat4all

Woke up, got a money tag, swears a lot
Member
Oct 25, 2017
94,149
here
why people trying to fuck around with contracts

you signed the paper, do what it says
 
Xeontech

Xeontech

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,059
Getting an email to 'please don't share media' is not an NDA.

Doesn't mean you won't lose your job tho.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.