Are Game Leaks A Marketing Tactic?

[Deleted member 43077]

leaks are used as a marketing tactic in many many industries.

Helps give you public feedback on products you may or may not be making that way you can get a better read on how the public would react.

Leaks in VG's can do the same thing. They can also help create excitement without spending a dime on marketing and can help you "announce" a game well ahead of something like E3 where chances are you will be drowned out with the other 1000 games that will be announced in a time span of like a week.

People think they are getting the "inside scoop" on a company but really its that company spoon feeding them. But hey it benefits them with creating free hype/ player feedback and players get hyped so I guess its a win win.

 

[Com_Raven]

So no Ubisoft leak in the last 5 years has been intentional?.

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I would not know. I do know that many of the leaks that the poster I quoted mentioned were definitely not, and were hugely disappointing to the people working on the games and marketing. Which is sadly something that is often overlooked by gamers. Can you imagine how frustrating it is to work on something for years, and to then see people hate on it online because they have incomplete, or even flat out false information? It can be pretty gutwrenching, to be honest.

 

[oni-link]

As an Ubisoft employee, I am honestly not sure whether to to cry or laugh at posts like this. I guess maybe the meaning of "convenient" and "perfectly timed" changed in recent years, or so?

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Can you comment about the guy who said he sat next to someone on a plane and this guy worked for Ubi and shared loads of stuff about upcoming games, and then this person posted all his info on GAF and no one believed him, only for all the leaks to be true

I think there was even a chatlog or something in Rogue maybe, saying not to talk to people on planes?

 

[huH1678]

Most of them aren't, also aliens are out there.

 

[Com_Raven]

I think there was even a chatlog or something in Rogue maybe, saying not to talk to people on planes?

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Obviously, people shouldn't talk about confidential stuff in public, and companies regularly remind employees to do so. With that said, I am surprised there are more leaks coming from things like this. I remember once flying to GDC, and half the people sitting around me had their laptops out working on game related stuff, including one at the time unannounced game. I also overheard some people talk about gaming related stuff that was definitely under NDA. Also, some people talk too much at industry parties at events etc. -.-

 

[Ghostwalker]

Intentionally leaking to the media is an ancient tactic, and a great way to see how the people will respond in way that you can easily back off away from if it turns out to be unpopular.

Although to work it must look like a genuine leak. So it will be used sparingly and on a need to know bases.

I am not sure why people think the games industry would not use such and simple and effecting marketing ploy.

 

[Skronk]

Doubt it, it can be turned into one though.

 

[wenis]

Sometimes.

 

[Regulus Tera]

Get press spotlight some random non-competitive day of the month of May... or get no attention because everyone is focused on the big publishers for three days in June.

Yeah, I'd say a lot more leaks than we suspect are probably intentional.

 

[oni-link]

Obviously, people shouldn't talk about confidential stuff in public, and companies regularly remind employees to do so. With that said, I am surprised there are more leaks coming from things like this. I remember once flying to GDC, and half the people sitting around me had their laptops out working on game related stuff, including one at the time unannounced game. I also overheard some people talk about gaming related stuff that was definitely under NDA. Also, some people talk too much at industry parties at events etc. -.-

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While that may me I think the mods here would quickly shut down threads with titles like

"Overheard a fella on the bus talking about Assassin's Creed V: The Assassining"

It is funny though, I have a lot of confidential information where I work and I'm always really conscious of what I'm saying to who or who will be able to see/access the things I'm working on, so it does seem odd that people casually sit around in public with unannounced game stuff on view

 

[Carpathia]

I would not know. I do know that many of the leaks that the poster I quoted mentioned were definitely not, and were hugely disappointing to the people working on the games and marketing. Which is sadly something that is often overlooked by gamers. Can you imagine how frustrating it is to work on something for years, and to then see people hate on it online because they have incomplete, or even flat out false information? It can be pretty gutwrenching, to be honest.

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Yeah, I can't imagine is frustrating for the developers when a game is revealed in such a way. Thanks for the reply.

 

[mutantmagnet]

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
Wild West Online leak was done very clever.

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I was wondering if anyone would provide an example of a leak they can prove was intentional.


How did they tip their hand?

 

[Jenea]

I was wondering if anyone would provide an example of a leak they can prove was intentional.


How did they tip their hand?

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Somebody made an account and posted in the same day a picture of an unknown game in GTA Forum, RDR2 thread. Many people thought it's from RDR2 because of the similar setting. Of course, all gaming media started to discuss the rumours. After some time, Wild West online (that screenshot was from it) was officialy anounced (the game is shit btw)

 

[johancruijff]

 

[Crossing Eden]

Ubisoft has a lot of these "leaks" and they're always very convenient and perfectly timed.

I don't think Ubi has had a legit leak in years, all of them controlled by marketing team I guess.

Of course I don't have a clue wether this is true or not, but they seem the most suspicious to me.

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I can assure you, they're not intentional. Except for when WD2 "leaked" an unannounced project and AC:Origins by having you literally hack into a Ubisoft studio:

 

[ColonialRaptor]

From my experience in the industry I would say that hardcore gamers (like us forum users) have an exaggerated sense of their own importance to many gaming companies (Nintendo especially pretty much ignored the vocal minority during the Wii age), sure certain things are aimed towards the hardcore market - BUT time and time again when devs listen to their fans they end up doing things that aren't successful and often it is important to just create something they think will be fun and hope for the best.

To answer the question of the thread after making this comment - I do think that some leaks are deliberate but for me it's usually easy to see which are the marketing stunts and which are the real leaks. Leaks that are nothing but glowing good news with no negatives are the ones most likely to be 'fake' leaks to generate buzz in the hardcore crowd. We must remember that the hardcore vocal minority like us that lives on forums is a very small percentage of the user base and while we can make a lot of noise it doesn't necessarily mean anything at all to the developers. Personally I think Sony is really great at feeding the hardcore gamers as a method of word of mouth, I don't know exactly how they do it - maybe it's just their decelopment philosophy of 'primarily games for adults' where Nintendo is 'primarily games for family' that makes the difference.

Can I think of any examples? Not right now. I imagine a lot of employees in the know would love to leak stuff but they are too afraid of losing their jobs if they get caught. So why would leaking be worth it? If it is part of the marketing plan then it can be good but to me, leaks often take a huge amount of the "WOW", surprise and adrenaline rushing "OMFG" factor of seeing a game announced without any prior knowledge during E3 press conferences. Why would anyone want to spoil that by leaking tidbits of information that dilutes the ferver of a surprise trailer during the conference? Nintendo especially is really tight lipped about leaks and I believe tries to avoid them at all costs so they can be the ones to control the narrative.

I personally used to stay up all night and watch the press conferences - it was so exciting but now I find it more exciting to come on gaf the day after and see what's been announced and watch all the trailers and absorb all the info as quickly as possible rather than the drip feed of watching the conferences live. Too much excitement spread out that way IMO.

Still E3 is without a doubt a gamers best time of the year.

 

[Ravidrath]

In my 20+ years in the games industry I have never once heard of a strategic leak being used for marketing purposes.

While that's not definitive, it's a small industry and people talk.

 

[Deleted member 34714]

Possibly? What makes me think it is a thing is because I found the Ntkrnl leaks suspicious. The dude had info involving multiple projects AND estimated date for them that was accurate. Imagine someone who would have that kind of info which would be a head figure of overseeing multiple projects for Xbox and he leaks them.... that was not some low level janitor leak.

 

[foxuzamaki]

There has been a couple sure but I'm willing to bet a grand majority hasent

 

[EkStatiC]

I am not working at the games industry, but today in my masters degree i asked one of my marketing professors, a guy that has a PhD, is a trully expert in consumer behaviour, has teached for over a decade in top universities across europe, his publications are cited more than 5000 times, he coordinates 20+ research projects and is a succesfull marketter/consultant that many companies that all of you know are his customers this simple thing: Are leaks part of a marketing strategy?

He smiled at me and with a playfull tone in his voice told me that almost always leaks are part of a marketing strategy.
He then told me examples of leaks but this is for another conversation.

I am sorry to all of you that tell the opposite from him but i will trust my professor.

 

[Flibbertygiblet]

He smiled at me and with a playfull tone in his voice told me that almost always leaks are part of a marketing strategy.

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I actually work in video game marketing so I am in a unique place to answer this question, and let me tell you something. When video games leak, it is very rarely part of a marketing strategy. We spend months crafting our bombastic announcements of our upcoming video game titles, and then Walmart goes and ruins it all with an accidental leak and people are not happy about it. At the company I work for (and I'm sure many others) we use code names for games up until the day they are announced in hopes of avoiding leaks.

 

[EkStatiC]

I actually work in video game marketing so I am in a unique place to answer this question, and let me tell you something. When video games leak, it is very rarely part of a marketing strategy. We spend months crafting our bombastic announcements of our upcoming video game titles, and then Walmart goes and ruins it all with an accidental leak and people are not happy about it. At the company I work for (and I'm sure many others) we use code names for games up until the day they are announced in hopes of avoiding leaks.

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I agree with that, all i say is that you can "accidentally" leave some files with minor information about your game in a place that someone else has access. Technically is this a leak? i dont think so...

 

[TubaZef]

All I can say is that in nearly 7 years of working in gaming communication (community and marketing), I have never seen it happen myself. I have however several times seen (sometimes inaccurate) leaks completely ruin carefully laid plans or cause major issues for companies. And I have in at least one instace seen people lose their jobs over leaked information.

Based on that, I have a hard time seeing the scenario as I described it in my previous post happening. Also, for those who don't speak German- Klobrille means toilet seat in German :p

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I have the impression that lately a lot of companies have just embraced the leak. With RAGE 2 for instance, looks to me like they just went "Well, now that the cat is out of the bag let's roll with it".

I believe this happened with Ubisoft too in the past with some Assassin's Creed. I remember Kotaku leaking a new game and Ubi officially announcing it like a week later.

So, with this becoming more common, are people in marketing trying to plan for this? Do you have like a backup plan in case of a leak?

 

[Dog of Bork]

If the source of the leak is a PR person, it's not a leak.

If it's Walmart, it's a leak.

 

[matimeo]

In my 20+ years in the games industry I have never once heard of a strategic leak being used for marketing purposes.

While that's not definitive, it's a small industry and people talk.

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12+ years for me and the same. Never heard of it.

 

[Com_Raven]

So, with this becoming more common, are people in marketing trying to plan for this? Do you have like a backup plan in case of a leak?

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It Is definitely always a very good idea to have a variety of scenarios planned out, with appropriate responses for them. I agree that Bethesda made the best of the Rage 2 thing and just humorously rolled with it.

 

[Sid]

I'd say so, yeah.

 

[Eumi]

Honestly I can't think what an intentional leak would do that a teaser trailer wouldn't do better.

Can't stick a leak on the official twitter, at least.

 

[Sadist]

Yes.

I fully believe Mario + Rabbids was one last year. Just to let the idea sink in before reveal and get the shock out of the way.

When the game was finally revealed a lot of folks were far more receptive that the initial leak.