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Trusted Reviews pays £1 million over RDR 2 leak

ASleepingMonkey

ASleepingMonkey

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
4,497
Iowa
Earlier this year, a website known as Trusted Reviews posted a massive leak for RDR 2 which detailed features and game modes for the open-world western. The article has since been taken down and they've apologized:

"On February 6, 2018, we published an article that was sourced from a confidential corporate document. We should have known this information was confidential and should not have published it. We unreservedly apologise to Take-Two Games and we have undertaken not to repeat such actions again."

The settlement of £1 million has seen Trusted Review paying the money to charities chosen by Take-Two rather than going directly to the gaming giant.

It's currently unknown as to how the information was acquired but if it was stolen or illegitimately acquired, they have grounds to take them to court.

Source: https://www.vg247.com/2018/11/01/red-dead-redemption-2-trusted-reviews-leak-settlement/

UPDATE: Rockstar issued a statement to Kotaku.

"Take-Two takes security seriously and will take legal action against people or publications who leak confidential information. Because this situation involved information about Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar Games directed the settlement funds to these three great charities: the American Indian College Fund, the American Prairie Reserve, and the First Nations Development Institute."
 
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DOATag

DOATag

Member
Oct 25, 2017
466
Canada, eh?
Wait, a media outlet is being fined for posting "news"?

That seems like a slippery slope. Kotaku for instance has done the same thing a number of times, are these media outlets really going to be put on a leash that says they can only report on what these companies want?
 
Pein

Pein

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,230
NYC
Good, but dang a million euro tho?

Trusted reviews got cash like that no problem? I've never even heard of them.
 
jem

jem

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,757
DOATag said:
Wait, a media outlet is being fined for posting "news"?

That seems like a slippery slope. Kotaku for instance has done the same thing a number of times, are these media outlets really going to be put on a leash that says they can only report on what these companies want?
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Presumably it depends on how the information was sourced.

It doesn't seem unreasonable for trusted reviews to pay if, for example, they stole this document and published it.
 
FHIZ

FHIZ

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,942
I mean... this is kind of fucked? Like that's essentially what Austin Walker did with PS4 Pro documentation while he was at Giant Bomb?source gives you info and documentation... that seems like fair game? Unless they went through illegal means to obtain it, or broke NDA (which I can't see happening because why would Rock Star give press this material in any context) this seems like a publisher strongarming press.
 
LuisGarcia

LuisGarcia

Banned
Oct 31, 2017
3,478
I'm not an expert om this by any means but I think it's the way they obtained the information more then the actual reporting of the news.
 
Zutrax

Zutrax

Member
Oct 31, 2017
4,192
DOATag said:
Wait, a media outlet is being fined for posting "news"?

That seems like a slippery slope. Kotaku for instance has done the same thing a number of times, are these media outlets really going to be put on a leash that says they can only report on what these companies want?
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I definitely don't know all the details, but there's a huge difference between signing NDA's and breaking those contracts and reporting something from word of mouth and things you shouldn't know but didn't promise the company you wouldn't say anything about. I would assume it's the former situation here.

Edit: Actually upon reading the article it seems like they reported it without having made any sort of promises, but then soon after mentions no one wants to report if the documents were legally obtained, so I guess no one actually knows?
 
UltraMagnanimous

UltraMagnanimous

Member
Oct 28, 2017
837
Bear said:
It can easily be considered trade secrets, especially if it was taken from a confidential document not intended for public release.
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Otherwise known as a leak, which happens all the time. I wonder if there was solicitation or other aspect of this which turned it into a crime?

Anyway, fair play to them to donate it to charity.
 
Sanctuary

Sanctuary

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,225
You know that's like a raindrop in Rockstar's money ocean (if it had been paid directly to them), and this is more a lesson than any real recompense.
 
shinobi602

shinobi602

Verified
Oct 24, 2017
8,346
This probably has more to do with UK laws specifically. Perhaps they're tougher in these cases?

Unless Trusted Reviews signed an NDA or actively *stole* these documents themselves, I don't think this would hold up in court in the states.
 
inner-G

inner-G

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
14,473
PNW
What a load of crap! I hope this pushes people (even if individuals, not websites) to hunt out and post more leaks of their stuff in the future
 
vestan

vestan

#REFANTAZIO SWEEP
Member
Dec 28, 2017
24,630
Khrol said:
I don't even remember the leak
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  • There will be 3 different online modes in RDR2:
    • The first and what will likely be the most popular mode is a "Battle Royale" mode. It seems like this mode might be the reason for the delay to October 26 of 2018 since Rockstar appears to be trying to piggy bank on the success of PUBG and Fortnite.
    • "Revive and Survive" sounds like a Team Death Match multiplayer mode where it pits 2 teams against one another and whichever team has more survivors wins. Players also have a restricted amount of time to revive their teammates before they are out of the match.
    • "Money Grab" is a mode where two teams fight over collecting bags of money in a specific location and must place these bags in the teams' bases.
  • The Open World will be modeled after what Rockstar accomplished in GTA Online, but there's suppose to be more depth in the world building such as NPC's decorating storefronts at specific times of the day.
  • There will be rewards for doing tasks like assassinating someone with a bow that could be over 100 meters away.
  • The Apartment-in-GTA-Online equivalent will be tents that can be bought in the open world, each having diverse themes and can be used to enhance the player's skills.
  • Online Play has many shops and NPC's that the player can interact with and that is where they can gather equipment and partake in missions. There are also Free Events such as Treasure Hunts and death matches that the player can choose to participate in.
  • Supposedly the development notes claim there will be a companion app that will launch alongside RDR2 that contains social elements and a poker minigame.
  • Allegedly you can participate in plenty of online recreations such as gold mining, fishing, herding and countless variants of weapon challenges.
  • In single player, there will be access to all sorts of towns each having a set of NPC's like gunsmiths, general store owners and undertakers. Also gambling in the form of poker appears to make a return.
  • A Slums Market will be available if you want to purchase items at a lower price.
  • Vehicles will include minecarts, handcarts and horse drawn carriages and each vary from being armored to fast versions of those vehicles.
  • The document received by Trusted Reviews hints at you accessing railroad trains to fast travel to different areas of the open world. You can also walk around in these trains and communicate with NPC's.
  • Side activities appear to be present in the story mode.
  • Horsemanship challenges are there for players to rise your rider ranks (I guess improve your horse riding skills?) and in case if people want to go fishing, there are suppose to be a wide variety of fish to catch.
  • Plants and Herbs can be obtained if players want to get into crafting what sounds like medicine and potions? Varieties supposedly include Clamshell, Ghost, Spider Orchids and more.
  • Going further on the fishing, there are different baits and tackles to choose from. A can of worms is also a potential item.
  • RDR2 will allow a first person mode for both the single player and multiplayer modes.
  • Dead Eye will come back with the inclusion of skills like tracking bounties on land and detecting what types of animals and fish are close to you.
  • Certain player actions and decisions will alter how the story's events unfold based on which characters you interact with. These include various mission outcomes, objectives and dialogue that will change based on how the player behaves.
  • A Wanted Level will return and depending on the player's behavior, will increase and decrease.
  • What's considered a less severe crime is attacking pedestrians, but much more severe crimes include holding up a saloon and killing every civilian in a town or location.
  • According to the document, it says that if enemies have a specific injury or thrown off of a horse's back, you can elicit contextual dialogue and force them to give you details or money as a price for letting them live.
 
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Sanctuary

Sanctuary

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,225
shinobi602 said:
Unless Trusted Reviews signed an NDA or actively *stole* these documents themselves, I don't think this would hold up in court in the states.
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That's what I was thinking as well. This just seems like bullying to me. I wouldn't want my work to be leaked either, but we live in an internet age now. I wonder if this had happened with a much smaller developer if the results would have been the same. Probably not.
 
chobel

chobel

Attempting to circumvent ban with an alt-account
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,493
Fuck that, I don't care if it's for charities or something else, this amount is absurd.
 
Alex840

Alex840

Member
Oct 31, 2017
5,119
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SprachBrooks

SprachBrooks

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
1,353
Charity starts at home, Rockstar - pay your employees adequately and stop exploiting their passion and desire to work in an industry they love.
 
King_Moc

King_Moc

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,126
Its completely fucked up that they have to pay anything at all here. Seriously, what in the fuck?
 
Sanctuary

Sanctuary

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,225
Jolkien said:
Slippery slopes since when does journalist have to pay a fine because they published something there wasn't supposed to. Check and balances...
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Gonna party like it's 1984.

Shugga said:
They could have paid devs directly instead ?
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It's more about the lesson. The money, if given directly to Rockstar would likely not find its way to those most deserving anyway.

MillionIII said:
Don't leak stuff if you're under NDA
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Agreed, but...

It's currently unknown as to how the information was acquired but if it was stolen or illegitimately acquired, they have grounds to take them to court.
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They also don't mention anything about an NDA do they?
 
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hydruxo

hydruxo

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 25, 2017
20,425
Over a million for a leak like this? That seems really fucking excessive.
 
Damn Silly

Damn Silly

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,193
Have to assume there's something more going on than a simple leak here, otherwise this is ridiculous.

At least the money is going to good causes, I guess.
 
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