In an extensive interview with Edge published this morning, Epic's Rod Fergusson admitted that the premature leak earlier this month of a development build of Gears Of War 3 has been a mental drain on the development team. Fergusson, who is the executive producer on the game, calls the leak "saddening" and "frustrating," but is most upset with those individuals who went out of their way to reveal key plot points in the upcoming game that could spoil the story for some players.
"It's people choosing to ruin their own experience," he tells Edge. "I get people going, 'oh no, I just watched this thing on YouTube and it's totally given away something'. And I go, 'well, why did you go looking and why did you watch it?'"
"We're extremely diligent about getting that stuff taken down and issued a call to fans to not perpetuate it…and just keeping track of those who do," Fergusson continues. "I don't think everybody's aware of the potential repercussions of those types of actions."
You can read the rest of the interview here. It's highly unlikely that the leaked early build of the game will have any impact on sales on the long run, but it is never a good feeling to have something shown to the general public that isn't quite done yet.
Comments
Re: Gears of War 3 Producer 'Saddened' and 'Frustrated' by Leak
Atreyu, that's a good idea, plus it wouldn't be that costly to implement something like that. I also wonder, regretfully, if there can't be tighter security measures at work to prevent this sort of thing.
Re: Gears of War 3 Producer 'Saddened' and 'Frustrated' by Leak
The Movie Studio's had a similar problem over a decade ago in regards to security. Having those employees or other contractors with access seeking to release entire movies. That's why Film Arts academies like the Oscars have films carried in securely. Minimizing the "chain of custody" in exposing a film unnecessarily to the wrong hands or making themselves a target.
Hopefully the game developer or publisher performs a security audit. To plug any further potential leaks of the IP during development. Or hire an outside security firm as a consultant to improve their security procedures.
Re: Gears of War 3 Producer 'Saddened' and 'Frustrated' by Leak
Wow, he's actually frustrated for the right reasons.
Just please don't treat the rest of us like criminals.