This is what Destiny, Call of Duty, and Dishonored devs think about leaks
The developers of some of the biggest games talk about what it's like to have your big surprise leaked early.
During E3 2016 last week, it seemed like almost every announcement was getting leaked. From the Xbox One S console to Dead Rising 4 to Titanfall 2 single-player, big reveals were getting outed by fans and users on NeoGAF and other sites. For the developers involved, this was often a disappointment -- but sometimes not so much as you'd think.
Talking to GamesRadar, members of studios responsible for Destiny, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and other games explained what their reactions were when parts of their reveals leaked early. Overall, the developers were bummed, but they also emphasized the very small percentage of people who actually saw the leaks before the official reveals.
Harvey Smith, director of Dishonored 2 at Arkane Studios, stated, "Those people are participating with the games industry in the way they want to. [But] it's OK because you know this is inside baseball, and how many people saw the leak really? Millions see the gameplay trailer in the end."
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare's narrative lead, Taylor Kurosaki, was a little less optimistic, however. He believes leaks are a "disservice to fans" and argued, "We are very specific about what we show and when we show it, because getting people hyped for a game all the way up to the moment where they can play it [is] all part of the experience."
Some developers confronted the leaks with good grace, viewing them as expressions of the passion of fans. Christopher Barrett, the creative lead on Destiny's next expansion, Rise of Iron, explained, "It's always a little bit shocking when stuff leaks but also, at the same time, it's really great to see how excited fans are to see this stuff. Worse would be if no one cares."
You can check out more quotes from developers over at GamesRadar, and you can read all about the multitude of pre-E3 leaks here. There were so many that Microsoft's official response was nothing but an emoji. What do you think of leaks before big reveals? Do you like finding out early, or would you rather be surprised? Let us know in the comments below.