Nintendo and The Pokémon Company put out statement shaming Pokémon Sword & Shield leakers

[Deleted member 38573]

What? How are you making that conclusion?

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The FNintendo leak probably fucked with their marketing plan, but in terms of the general mood before the official release, I don't think it did much in comparison with the streamers leak. That's when we had a good look at the Wild Area (and it's restrictions) and the overall production quality of the game.

Were these leaks even framed/received in a negative light? Asking sincerely because PKMN monster design rarely ventures into the "so bad let's get outraged" territory. Story spoilers? I mean, I guess this could've dampened the spirits of the hundreds of people that care about the story in Pokemon games.

 

[Alice]

You're completely wrong in this. This is business vs business.

A business signed a contract with another business and one of those businesses illegally broke that contract.

The negative impact isn't just felt by Nintendo but by hundreds of other smaller partners who prepare videos and articles in order to show off new aspects of the games. These leaks mean that less people are likely to view these pieces because they've already illegally seen much of the information beforehand.

Putting out this statement acts as a deterrent to unprofessional businesses that Nintendo won't tolerate illegal practices and potential damage which could be caused to themselves and other partners.

From reading your comments it's quite clear you haven't once considered the impact this has on smaller gaming sites and YouTube channels.

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That's funny, because you're the one defending the big company using strongarming and fear tactics against those smaller sites and YouTube channels. This isn't the first time they've done that, and they've done it for much, much less justified reasons, too. Especially to YouTubers.

you can be left without being Anarchist.

And the reviewer that broke NDA fucked this publications future.
And probably a dozen smaller sites that might not get trusted to get review codes now.

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Disliking it when a multi billion dollar company resorts to feat tactics against a tiny ass gaming site really doesn't have a lot to do with anarchy, yo.

 

[Gacha Santa Alter]

As someone that used to post on that site for the better part of a decade...

Good riddance.

 

[Brazil]

I guess we gotta push back our dreams of a Pokémon game translated to Portuguese once again.

 

[slsk]

If they don't enforce their embargoes with consequences then everyone would just break them.

 

[Reinhardt Schneider]

Not a fan of name and shame. Both Nintendo and TPCi could have solved this behind the scenes, without the need of attacking the leaker.

However, it IS true that a embargo date is there for a reason, and the media HAS to respect it. That reviewer at FNintendo fucked it up just to have his 10 minutes of internet glory.

 

[Sandfox]

Not a fan of name and shame. Both Nintendo and TPCi could have solved this behind the scenes, without the need of attacking the leaker.

However, it IS true that a embargo date is there for a reason, and the media HAS to respect it. That reviewer at FNintendo fucked it up just to have his 10 minutes of internet glory.

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Saying they won't work with the site anymore because they broke an NDA is hardly an attack imo.

 

[calloumiii]

I work with contractually confidential shit every day and if I leaked that info, I'd suffer far more than the company I work for being named and shamed.

Nintendo was probably well within their rights to do more than publicly sever ties - I think FNintendo may have gotten away with a slapped wrist in this instance.

 

[King Kingo]

All this could have been prevented if they stuck with their NDA. Some people really do make a fool of themselves in the name of impatience.

 

[Reinhardt Schneider]

Saying they won't work with the site anymore because they broke an NDA is hardly an attack imo.

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Nameshaming them actually is an attack. As i said, this could have been resolved without such a move.

 

[Jimnymebob]

Disliking it when a multi billion dollar company resorts to feat tactics against a tiny ass gaming site really doesn't have a lot to do with anarchy, yo.

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What fear tactics?
The site screwed up, so they cut ties.

Also, call me skeptical (and someone more knowledgeable about review/games media feel free to correct me here), but surely someone else from that publication aside from the leaker knew what was being published, and what bits of that were under embargo.

 

[Dark Cloud]

They're called "FNintendo" lmao

 

[YolkFolk]

That's funny, because you're the one defending the big company using strongarming and fear tactics against those smaller sites and YouTube channels. This isn't the first time they've done that, and they've done it for much, much less justified reasons, too.

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You just don't get it.

You're actually promoting damaging of thousands of smaller gaming businesses.

Most people working in the community will be delighted with this statement because it's awful to work on something and have to keep a lid on it, only for some unprofessional idiots to break the NDA and potentially destroy the audience for what you've been working on.

There SHOULD be scaremongering to stop this happening because that's the only thing that makes people stop. If there aren't any consequences then it results in people continuing to commit crimes.

Personally I'm happy with one small business being damaged due to illegal activity instead of hundreds more innocent ones.

 

[Sandfox]

Nameshaming them actually is an attack. As i said, this could have been resolved without such a move.

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If they're leaking information it should be public imo. Other devs/publishers should know before working with this publication.

 

[wrowa]

Fuck FNintendo. I seriously got no idea why anyone can feel sorry for them. They are fully responsible for their own actions and could have easily prevented this by not breaching their NDA. It's easy, most other websites manage too.

Shit like this only hurts the press as a whole. Companies like Nintendo have no obligation to provide review copies and the consequence of leaks like this is that these companies will only grow more hesitant to distribute review copies in the future. It hurts everyone but the biggest outlets.

 

[cw_sasuke]

"multi billion dollar company"

Instead of seeing red everytime when Nintendo or a big publisher is brought up people should realize that leaks like that screw up alot of outlets that "play by the rules" and plan their content roll out based on the embargo stipulations. Ridiculous how people think that just because the issue concerns a mayor company that a person cant do no wrong or shouldnt have to suffer any consequences. Why even bother with embargoes or any rules if you are not gonna try to enforce them ?

Getting access to software builds or review copies is a privilege - you must be beyond stupid working for a site that focuses on Nintendo content, being privileged enough to get a early copy of the biggest Switch release ever....and then leak that stuff. People really need to stop defending stupidity and reckless behavior - its not helping.

Considering what would happen in other fields they got away with pretty much nothing but a slap on the fingers.
Nintendo is usually one of the better big publishers that send out review copies quite early to proven outlets - shit like this isnt helping and will result in review codes being sent close to release dates.

 

[shaneo632]

I can't convince Nintendo to give me a review code more than a day before release but these guys had one weeks earlier? ehhh

 

[correojon]

I work with contractually confidential shit every day and if I leaked that info, I'd suffer far more than the company I work for being named and shamed.

Nintendo was probably well within their rights to do more than publicly sever ties - I think FNintendo may have gotten away with a slapped wrist in this instance.

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Yup, I can imagine that if there´s an NDA the repercussions could´ve been much more harsher for FNintendo, I think they actually dodged a bullet here.

 

[Andri]

Didnt FNintendo themselves say that they were where the leaks came from.
So its not even like only Nintendo themselves named them.
Or are people here assuming FNintendo would not have released that Statement ?
I would hope they would have the integrity of doing so without outside pressure.

 

[Alice]

You just don't get it.

You're actually promoting damaging of thousands of smaller gaming businesses.

Most people working in the community will be delighted with this statement because it's awful to work on something and have to keep a lid on it, only for some unprofessional idiots to break the NDA and potentially destroy the audience for what you've been working on.

There SHOULD be scaremongering to stop this happening because that's the only thing that makes people stop. If there aren't any consequences then it results in people continuing to commit crimes.

Personally I'm happy with one small business being damaged due to illegal activity instead of hundreds more innocent ones.

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I hope you mention this in every single thread on this forum where leaks are discussed. Would be a lot of work, though.

Your logical leap from "hundreds of small businesses are damaged by a single NDA breach of a tiny publication" to what actually happened is a bit weird though, maybe you should actually explain why you believe small businesses take any sort of damage from someone fucking up an NDA.

NDA breeches happen all the time. Without them, none of those spoiler threads about movies, games or anything would actually exist, yet everyone gleefully partakes in them, and now celebrates what Nintendo did to people who actually supplied the stuff that's being discussed here on a daily basis.

It's utterly nonsensical.

 

[blueredandgold]

This forum is defending some place called FNintendo?

Is it Tuesday already?

 

[JustJavi]

You know what pillories are, and why humanity moved past these things, right?

Scaring people into playing along with big companies is messed up, and I can't believe that people on a left-leaning forum are actually stanning for the big capitalist company that pretty much fucked this publications' future.

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Everything in this post is wrong.

 

[Alice]

This forum is defending some place called FNintendo?

Is it Tuesday already?

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What's wrong with the name? They're a Nintendo focussed site, and not in the negative sense.

 

[Jonneh]

Very frustrating that a member of gaming media would sabotage this for the rest of us. Some of my friends in the industry didn't get copies of Sword & Shield because of the leak and it'll be near impossible with the next game.

 

[APOEERA]

I'm sorry but I don't really see the harm leaking FNintendo did brings. Yes, it is unscrupulous of them to do so and I can't imagine any publisher willing to trust them from this point forward. And it causes even more of a strained relationship between Nintendo and review outlets. But this is software made and designed (mostly) for children, not customer information or confidential information about Nintendo. To me, Nintendo has to demonstrate more than "they broke a NDA for a review and we gave them a copy of the game" as being a reason to publicly shame the review outlet. Did the direct impact of the leaking result in overall fewer sales?

 

[Deleted member 32018]

I'm under many NDA's for my job right now and there is some scary language in some of those contracts.

Why the hell anyone would want to break an NDA for a little internet fame is beyond me. They are lucky if all that happens is Nintendo stops their relationship and I feel for other outlets who are going to suffer because of this.

 

[Jimnymebob]

I hope you mention this in every single thread on this forum where leaks are discussed. Would be a lot of work, though.

Your logical leap from "hundreds of small businesses are damaged by a single NDA breach of a tiny publication" to what actually happened is a bit weird though, maybe you should actually explain why you believe small businesses take any sort of damage from someone fucking up an NDA.

NDA breeches happen all the time. Without them, none of those spoiler threads about movies, games or anything would actually exist, yet everyone gleefully partakes in them, and now celebrates what Nintendo did to people who actually supplied the stuff that's being discussed here on a daily basis.

It's utterly nonsensical.

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An Era spoiler thread is in no way equivalent to a partner that Nintendo had provided early access to breaking NDA and leaking things.

The leaker themself should be shunned from the industry altogether, but all they've done with the publication is cut ties. No lawsuits, unless of course that's behind the scenes. They're fully in their right to do that, and surely you understand that?

 

[Deleted member 49611]

Good on Nintendo. It sucks for reviewers/publications who do things right and for fans but Nintendo has every right to protect their property.

shame on the person who leaked it. hope their little moment of fame was worth it.

 

[Deleted member 8791]

Lots of weird posts here. Espescially the comparisons. "What about the people that streamed the game pre release." Did they have a NDA with Nintendo? This is all about breaking a formal agreement.

 

[cw_sasuke]

Didnt FNintendo themselves say that they were where the leaks came from.
So its not even like only Nintendo themselves named them.
Or are people here assuming FNintendo would not have released that Statement ?
I would hope they would have the integrity of doing so without outside pressure.

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They probably came to an agreement with Nintendo, were putting out this kinda statement was a part of it.
Doubt they would have done it on their own tbh.

 

[YolkFolk]

Very frustrating that a member of gaming media would sabotage this for the rest of us. Some of my friends in the industry didn't get copies of Sword & Shield because of the leak and it'll be near impossible with the next game.

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Good to hear your take on this.

Some people are just seeing this as Nintendo attacking the little man without realising the impact leaks like this can have on thousands of other smaller businesses.

 

[hersheyfan]

Media outlets sign the NDAs fully aware of the implications of non-compliance. You can't just disregard contracts you agreed to because "its just a leak, and everybody does it" - Nintendo is just enforcing their rights under that agreement, and I don't take that against them.

I get it, leaks are fun, but theyre a huge risk to the leaker without much in the way of actual benefit aside from some internet notoriety.

Edit: And as media people in this thread have also mentioned, they can also have a large negative effect on the many other outlets who DO play by the rules.

 

[Godsent]

This is genuinely messed up, this is what people always claim Disney would do to people. And this isn't the first time Nintendo has outright attacked people for comparatively minor things.

And yes, I understand that it's something they "have" to do, but the naming and shaming portion? Dragging people in the open like this in addition to legal steps? That's messed the hell up.

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If I break an NDA with my client there'll be far bigger consequences than being fired immediately.. reviewing game is a paid job and I don't see why it should be treated differently.

 

[Japanmanx3]

This makes total sense.

 

[Alice]

An Era spoiler thread is in no way equivalent to a partner that Nintendo had provided early access to breaking NDA and leaking things.

The leaker themself should be shunned from the industry altogether, but all they've done with the publication is cut ties. No lawsuits, unless of course that's behind the scenes. They're fully in their right to do that, and surely you understand that?

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Have you ever visited a film spoiler thread? We get set pictures, and script leaks months in advance. No one has ever complained or spoken about the damage this does to smaller news outlets or the like.

Like, I get why some people claim leaks damage smaller outlets, but then, maybe, at the same time don't support threads about leaks and the like. In this case the leaks seem to have been a blessing because there's plety of people disappointed in how the game seems to be turning out.

If I break an NDA with my client there'll be far bigger consequences than being fired immediately.. reviewing game is a paid job and I don't see why it should be treated differently.

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Are you just skimming the parts where I've already, numerous times, said that breaking an NDA is bad, and punishable, but am absolutely against the decision to publicise it ALONG the actual contractual punishment?

This isn't about enforcing an NDA, and anyone who claims I argue against the NDA itself is just arguing in bad faith. My gripes are entirely with the public shaming.

 

[Serebii]

Have you ever visited a film spoiler thread? We get set pictures, and script leaks months in advance. No one has ever complained or spoken about the damage this does to smaller news outlets or the like.

Like, I get why some people claim leaks damage smaller outlets, but then, maybe, at the same time don't support threads about leaks and the like. In this case the leaks seem to have been a blessing because there's plety of people disappointed in how the game seems to be turning out.

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People get sued and fired for script leaks. Set pictures typically happen due to it being in the open and unavoidable.

 

[Andri]

I hope you mention this in every single thread on this forum where leaks are discussed. Would be a lot of work, though.

Your logical leap from "hundreds of small businesses are damaged by a single NDA breach of a tiny publication" to what actually happened is a bit weird though, maybe you should actually explain why you believe small businesses take any sort of damage from someone fucking up an NDA.

NDA breeches happen all the time. Without them, none of those spoiler threads about movies, games or anything would actually exist, yet everyone gleefully partakes in them, and now celebrates what Nintendo did to people who actually supplied the stuff that's being discussed here on a daily basis.

It's utterly nonsensical.

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NDA breeches hurt small outlets because they are less likely to get codes as a direct result of it.
Why trust a small outlet with a code if another had no issue leaking stuff ?
The big ones will be fine because they are considered "safe"(mostly since they are big enough to actually fear a real lawsuit, so they intensely vet their staff).
Its like how the Filip plagarism thing hurt lots of other YT people that might have wanted to enter traditional VG Journalism.
He was a YT person that went on to a big Site, only to then plagarize stuff.
As a result you can be sure IGN will be much less likely to hire another YT person anytime soon.

I'm sorry but I don't really see the harm leaking FNintendo did brings. Yes, it is unscrupulous of them to do so and I can't imagine any publisher willing to trust them from this point forward. And it causes even more of a strained relationship between Nintendo and review outlets. But this is software made and designed (mostly) for children, not customer information or confidential information about Nintendo. To me, Nintendo has to demonstrate more than "they broke a NDA for a review and we gave them a copy of the game" as being a reason to publicly shame the review outlet. Did the direct impact of the leaking result in overall fewer sales?

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Just look at the post right before yours.
Literally an example of people not getting review copies due to the leaks.

Leakers might not even hurt the game itself, but they 100% hurt all other media outlets that dont publish leaks.
Leakers take away eyes from all the outlets that follow the rules and dont publish till the embargo ends.

 

[Raijinto]

This seems like a textbook example of playing silly games anf winning silly prizes. They knew what the risks were and at least they're accepting of the punishment that resulted.

 

[blueredandgold]

What's wrong with the name? They're a Nintendo focussed site, and not in the negative sense.

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While that was a poor attempt at humourI take your point, but you are arguing throughout this thread that the end (a seemingly disappointing and bad Pokemon game) jusitfies the means (ie information that got out that confused the likes of me who couldn't understand what was "public knowledge" and what was "information that was not to be distributed" prior to release.

I cannot agree with this.

 

[Alice]

People get sued and fired for script leaks. Set pictures typically happen due to it being in the open and unavoidable.

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And getting sued and fired is fine, that's the risk anyone takes upon them when breaking an NDA, I never said that's not okay. I argued explicitly against the publicising of said matters.

NDA breeches hurt small outlets because they are less likely to get codes as a direct result of it.
Why trust a small outlet with a code if another had no issue leaking stuff ?
The big ones will be fine because they are considered "safe"(mostly since they are big enough to actually fear a real lawsuit, so they intensely vet their staff).
Its like how the Filip plagarism thing hurt lots of other YT people that might have wanted to enter traditional VG Journalism.
He was a YT person that went on to a big Site, only to then plagarize stuff.
As a result you can be sure IGN will be much less likely to hire another YT person anytime soon.

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Again, consequences to leakers are fine, and expected when there's an NDA breech. Public shaming *alongside* those consequences is what I'm explicitly against.

Is that really so hard to understand?

While that was a poor attempt at humourI take your point, but you are arguing throughout this thread that the end (a seemingly disappointing and bad Pokemon game) jusitfies the means (ie information that got out that confused the likes of me who couldn't understand what was "public knowledge" and what was "information that was not to be distributed" prior to release.

I cannot agree with this.

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Nah, the quality of the game has nothing to do with it, that's just what gives this whole thing a sour aftertaste and makes it feel more like some sort of vengeance over exposing flaws no one should have known about yet. But maybe that's just me and my anticapitalist heart speaking. Nintendo will forever hold more power over these small outlets than they can ever have with any sort of leak.

 

[Jimnymebob]

Have you ever visited a film spoiler thread? We get set pictures, and script leaks months in advance. No one has ever complained or spoken about the damage this does to smaller news outlets or the like.

Like, I get why some people claim leaks damage smaller outlets, but then, maybe, at the same time don't support threads about leaks and the like. In this case the leaks seem to have been a blessing because there's plety of people disappointed in how the game seems to be turning out.

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But as a consumer, I'm not legally contracted to not leak things.

Like, I could look at some things that have been leaked, yet understand and be understanding of the creators right to punish those who they put their trust in.

 

[Godsent]

Have you ever visited a film spoiler thread? We get set pictures, and script leaks months in advance. No one has ever complained or spoken about the damage this does to smaller news outlets or the like.

Like, I get why some people claim leaks damage smaller outlets, but then, maybe, at the same time don't support threads about leaks and the like. In this case the leaks seem to have been a blessing because there's plety of people disappointed in how the game seems to be turning out.




Are you just skimming the parts where I've already, numerous times, said that breaking an NDA is bad, and punishable, but am absolutely against the decision to publicise it ALONG the actual contractual punishment?

This isn't about enforcing an NDA, and anyone who claims I argue against the NDA itself is just arguing in bad faith. My gripes are entirely with the public shaming.

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NDA breaches have consequences, as simple as that. This serves as a warning to other media outlets, and is totally justified

 

[Jimnymebob]

I argued explicitly against the publicising of said matters.

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How do you get around that though?
Sure, they're a smaller, foreign site, but surely at some point people might start wondering why they've suddenly stopped getting early copies for preview etc., and put two and two together.

 

[Alice]

NDA breaches have consequences, as simple as that. This serves as a warning to other media outlets, and is totally justified

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I will never, ever, agree with someone who believes that public shaming over something like Video Game Leaks is "totally justified". Legal consequences, as per the NDA's terms are justified. Nothing else.

How do you get around that though?
Sure, they're a smaller, foreign site, but surely at some point people might start wondering why they've suddenly stopped getting early copies for preview etc., and put two and two together.

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And pinpoint it to that one tiny site? That would be some grade-A detective work. But if people figure it out, so be it. This is entirely about the power dynamics a multi billion dollar company is displaying here.

If this were a thread over in etc about Disney doing something like that to set photo, or script leakers, there would be an overwhelmingly negative reaction towards Disney.

 

[benzopil]

Now they can become a Nintendo hating website, they don't even have to change the name

 

[Kouriozan]

Very frustrating that a member of gaming media would sabotage this for the rest of us. Some of my friends in the industry didn't get copies of Sword & Shield because of the leak and it'll be near impossible with the next game.

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Indeed, TPC did delay the release of the main games in Europe because leaks before Sw/Sh, so stuff like this could have real consequences.

 

[Fujibayoshi]

Good job, Nintendo!

 

[Deleted member 51789]

I will never, ever, agree with someone who believes that public shaming over something like Video Game Leaks is "totally justified". Legal consequences, as per the NDA's terms are justified. Nothing else.

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And what if the NDA terms mention, or the subsequent legal discussions talk about outing the outlet (or the outlet making a formal apology themselves stating that they are at fault) if there is a confirmed leak as a result of their negligence?

 

[Alice]

And what if the NDA terms mention outing the outlet (or the outlet making a formal apology themselves stating that they are at fault) if there is a confirmed leak as a result of their negligence?

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DO they though? No NDA I know, and I've signed plenty, actually includes a "public callout" clause.

 

[Serebii]

I will never, ever, agree with someone who believes that public shaming over something like Video Game Leaks is "totally justified". Legal consequences, as per the NDA's terms are justified. Nothing else.




And pinpoint it to that one tiny site? That would be some grade-A detective work. But if people figure it out, so be it. This is entirely about the power dynamics a multi billion dollar company is displaying here.

If this were a thread over in etc about Disney doing something like that to set photo, or script leakers, there would be an overwhelmingly negative reaction towards Disney.

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If people see that places leak and don't see the consequences, then they think there's none