This Is What Happens When a Video Game Leaks - IGN
Why and how video game leaks happen, and the mayhem it can cause for devs and gamers.
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This is the question that affects everyone in the video game industry. Leaks are a fact of life for reporters, studio heads, and Reddit dwellers alike. But where is the statute of limitations? How do we know when a leak transforms from a relevant exclusive to an icky feeling of sabotage -- something that can cause a lot of pain in unsuspecting people? That's the question I posed to Jason Schreier, formerly of Kotaku and now at Bloomberg, who's been responsible for more scoops than anyone else on the gaming beat. He gave me a clarifying example of his personal philosophy. In 2013, he acquired a bundle of script pages from the then-unannounced Fallout 4. Those pages included explicit details of some of that game's major plot beats. But Schreier opted not to publish that part of his newsgathering, and instead used his knowledge to simply confirm that Fallout 4 was set in Boston, and more importantly, a real game in active development at Bethesda.
"The potential harm you might cause to game developers is one of the many factors worth considering when you're deciding whether or not to report on a leak that's been sent your way," says Schreier. "I've certainly made missteps on this front over the years, but I've also made people mad with reports that I still think were necessary and justifiable."
Tim Willits, formerly the studio director at Id and currently COO of Saber Interactive, tells me that one employee snapped a photo of his friends in the office which happened to contain a work-in-progress firearm model in frame. Once the damage is done, it can be absolutely devastating for a team member to hold that blame. In general, Willits felt a responsibility to make sure that any inadvertent in-house leaks are handled with compassion, rather than punishment.
"They feel terrible. They say, 'Are you going to fire me?' No one has ever been fired for making a mistake, but they feel so bad for letting their team down. At the moment, it is a huge deal. But ultimately? It's not a huge deal."
Willits has been in the video game industry for more than 20 years. Broadly, he considers leaks to be an unshakable reality in this business, and tells me that he'd rather have people desperate for information about the stuff his team is working on, than a withering ambivalence of the content behind closed doors. After all, what's more validating than a community drooling over a shotgun model?
"That thirst is what makes our job worth doing," says Willits. "That people are so desperate to know about our games that they're looking for any hints. I wouldn't have it any other way."
