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Kotaku explains how to leak informations to them
- Thread starter dex3108
- Start date
Exactly.
Look at a whole year. All game sites are going to have a spike in October to now, because more consoles and its new game season.
Samurai G0SU
Member
i thought brian doesn't work there anymore.. :/
robovanburen
Member
This is a year's worth of traffic. They're well above where they were at last year's holiday spike.
Edit:
Can you think of an example of a game whose existence was leaked and that actually hurt the project? Genuine question. I can't think of one.
People are right to be wary of Kotaku and its reliance on the anonymous source. You're not the Washington Post throwing a reporting bureau at Watergate.
I'd be extremely surprised if you verified each and every anonymous source's true identity and independently confirmed the veracity of his statements.
If you want to make it so developers have a clear and safe pipeline, I have no problem with that. But if you don't do your legwork on each and every source and with all the claims presented to you, Kotaku is going to become a bylined Fatbabies.
You can look at their lifetime stats over here and see that they are on an upward trend: https://www.quantcast.com/kotaku.com
Corronchilejano
Member
This is a real issue.
Maybe it won't hurt project but it will hurt people working on that project. Devs are working their asses of and eagerly waiting for right moment to reveal their project and few months before that project lekas. Imagine how would they feel.
Yeap and as Jason said even if this initiative is mainly for stuff like Crytek nor paying devs they won't ignore leaks about unannounced projects. If they feel it is ok to write article about it they will.
its not often obvious, but early leaks of games really do fuck up marketing plans and schedules. deviations from schedules do quite often add additional stress/effort and change up the timelines. So leaks do usually cost the company one way or another.
robovanburen
Member
That might be a reason for a developer not to leak details on their project. It's not a reason for Kotaku or another site to not publish those details, though. Exclusive information on an upcoming game is of interest to their readers. And that's who they ultimate serve: their readers, not the studio's marketing plan.
Sheriff_Battlesnake
Banned
I'm really enjoying the sprinkled knee-jerk reactions in this thread that think they are going to be in the popular opinion by shitting on Kotaku. And then they get steamrolled by everyone.
Anyway, great article! Extremely informative and even just reading these comments make me feel like I've learned a bit more about the process.
Anyway, great article! Extremely informative and even just reading these comments make me feel like I've learned a bit more about the process.
wanderingprostheyltite
Member
This. Haven't we seen seen examples of devs having to spend extra time to change things or remove them entirely due to leaks? It does have an impact.
I would rather wait proper reveal and watch trailer/video then read what they saw on a that video. And leaking info about unannounced game in my opinion serves only to press who published story. They will get clicks and users will often get uncomplete informations and assets.
If you don't want to see it then you don't need to. And what's wrong with them getting clicks for posting about real information?
And I hope you realize that this reads exactly like this:
bequietdrive
Member
Odd it doesn't mention pay at all. If you leak them an amazing story that generates a shit ton of ad revenue it's borderline theft to not pay your source.
ArkkAngel007
Member
Would like to see sources on instances where it wasn't due to the leaked content needing to be changed because it received a flogging.
Kotaku has handled leaks well in the past if memory serves right. Modern Warfare 3 was a giant one and perhaps the largest leak in the industry.
http://kotaku.com/5801226/the-modern-warfare-3-files-exclusive-first-details-on-the-biggest-game-of-2011
Edit: Thought there was a lot more in there. Remember lots of concept art and assets and more details. Oh well, guess it wasn't that big.
Well this doesn't make any sense whatsoever.
robovanburen
Member
If readers didn't click the shit out of those stories, websites wouldn't have an economic incentive to print them. I agree that a full announcement is more informative than leaked tidbits but if you're the only site with said tidbits, there's a chance to get huge readership for that report.
It's amusing to me that people think that press should cause definite harm to themselves by not printing a story of great interest to their readers in hopes it will prevent some kind of vague harm or at least inconvenience on the part of the developer/publisher - inconvenience that they may not be able to prevent anyway because if a leaker's willing to talk to them, they may just as easily talk to some other site too.
legacyzero
Banned
Of course it is. But, on the flip side, it helps to get important PSA's to consumers about some of the bullshit happenings in the industry.
If there's any way I can know about some bullshit thing coming down the pipe before it does, I'm all for it. Such as Assassins Creed Unity being a buggy and in-game-purchase shitfest.
Not as easy to stay anonymous then.
I use twitter really often and big leaks will show there for sure so in one way i can't avoid it.
And about that quote i don't care that much about publishers but i care for people who are putting their work hours day after day waiting that day when they will be able to talk about their work and when they will be able to see reactions of their fans. It is rewarding for them and it is sad when somebody steals that from them.
But they can do amazing articles. Jason proved that many times with his really informative articles that showed us some of the realities of AAA development.
Putting aside the ethical debate of what a reporter should do with leaked information and assets for unannounced games -- a debate with nuance and ambiguities -- I think that all of us who are not corporate PR people agree that A) an independent journalist should be exposing wrongdoing and reporting stories that big companies might not want reported; and B) there is not much reporting like that on the video game beat.
Kotaku has done some of these types of stories, but as the newly-promoted news editor, I'd like us to do more. And I'd like people to feel as comfortable as possible coming to us with their stories. That's why we put up this post -- not because we want someone at Ubisoft to leak us the next Assassin's Creed but because we want someone at Ubisoft to feel comfortable telling us about, say, the "limbo" building that I reported on last year. Or about how Assassin's Creed Unity shipped so buggy. Or about toxic work conditions, interesting behind-the-scenes anecdotes, or anything else that gets closer to real stories rather than the PR-driven nonsense that gets thrown up on most video game websites on a daily basis.
With our already-formidable team plus the addition of the inimitable Patrick Klepek, I think we'll be doing even more great reporting -- and moving even further away from the hype cycle that dominates most gaming outlets -- as the year goes on.
Hope that helps.
Kotaku has done some of these types of stories, but as the newly-promoted news editor, I'd like us to do more. And I'd like people to feel as comfortable as possible coming to us with their stories. That's why we put up this post -- not because we want someone at Ubisoft to leak us the next Assassin's Creed but because we want someone at Ubisoft to feel comfortable telling us about, say, the "limbo" building that I reported on last year. Or about how Assassin's Creed Unity shipped so buggy. Or about toxic work conditions, interesting behind-the-scenes anecdotes, or anything else that gets closer to real stories rather than the PR-driven nonsense that gets thrown up on most video game websites on a daily basis.
With our already-formidable team plus the addition of the inimitable Patrick Klepek, I think we'll be doing even more great reporting -- and moving even further away from the hype cycle that dominates most gaming outlets -- as the year goes on.
Hope that helps.
VicDaMoan03
Member
So whats the story behind Fallout 4? I know you guys teased something.
robovanburen
Member
If you think they should do more articles exposing seedy shit at publishers as opposed to game leaks, I agree with you. However, I don't think they should avoid leaking details on upcoming games just because it possibly hurts someone somehow. After all, there's bound to be collateral damage from exposing wrongdoing as well. If they expose some CEO as being a criminal, the replacement CEO might end up cleaning house and replacing lot of employees who weren't directly involved in the scandal.
That's not the reporter's problem, though. Their job is to tell truthful, important stories that are of interest to their readers. They can't do that if they're worrying about every little inconvenience that their job will cause.
Primethius
Banned
I think this is fantastic and hopefully Kotaku can get more of these stories out.
Maybe one day we'll get our Destiny story. I can only hope.
Maybe one day we'll get our Destiny story. I can only hope.
I think this is good and a lot more sites should actually adopt something like this. Isn't SecureDrop from The Guardian a little bit similar: http://www.theguardian.com/technolo...-launches-securedrop-whistleblowers-documents
Elginer
Member
I am very interested in this as well. If you guys can scrounge up that info it would be a hell of a story. I'm enjoying Destiny in small bites but man the promise that is there and just seemed to fall apart at the end is a story that NEEDS to be told. Hope you guys continue with all the great stories this year.
But getting that story would mean encouraging someone to break NDA's.
Won't someone think of the poor Koticks!
Maybe one day people will read articles before posting on GAF about them. One day.
How are you guys going to discern real from fake ?
The same way we always do: through careful reporting and corroboration using as many sources as possible.
vpance
Member
serversurfer
Member
Not merely okay, but commendable. Protection of sources is fundamental to the preservation of The Fourth Estate.
Obviously, they need to restrict themselves to publishing legit info from legit sources — and it is their responsibility to ensure this is the case — but if they're doing that, then they're doing precisely what the press is supposed to do.
Solid neogaf insider commenting.
If someone sent the Coca Cola recipe to the Washington Post, they wouldn't publish it. Traditional media makes a distinction between "good" leaks and "bad" leaks. Videogame journalism just eats everything up.
serversurfer
Member
They would if it contained heroin, and they would be right to do so.
To stick with your analogy: if someone sent us the code behind, say, Bethesda's proprietary engine, do you think we'd publish that? Come on.
This one got me
LyleLanley
Banned
I don't think any reputable news outlet would pay someone for this kind of information.
Jinfash
needs 2 extra inches
Check your PMs.
Neuromancer
Member
I would love to hear about the meetings that brought about the Xbox One in its original form.
At the end of the day this. Part of this hand-wringing about PR teams and such - if we already accept that publishers enjoy disproportionate leverage in messaging their title I have a hard time understanding why it becomes okay to cede alternative viewpoints that aren't straight from the horse's mouth. In general I have a hard time understanding, from the vantage point of a consumer, why I would prioritize the self-interest of marketing teams.
ComputerMKII
Banned
That's why it's called a leak
Now that's just charting into ACTUAL unethical practices in journalism.
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