How Do You Feel About Leaks?

[Moonface]

Given the recent and ongoing fuss being kicked up in the wake of the leaks for The Last of Us Part II, and the question about whether it's right or not to ever leak a game, I thought it would be interesting to see what everyone here thinks about game leaks. Do you think there's ever a justifiable reason for someone to leak information about a game (or console, but those are obviously rarer)? Have you ever found leaks useful to you? How much do you try to avoid leaks?

From a moral standpoint I don't think any leak is a good thing to do, but I don't mind so much for leaks that aren't going to ruin the experience of a game for me. ACNH had some leaks a few weeks ago for the new content it was going to get, and then a few days later some of it got confirmed in a new trailer, and although I'd seen those leaks it didn't make me less excited when they got announced. If anything, knowing that content was coming at some point got me more excited because I had something to look forward to that wasn't a total mystery. If I had started to get bored with what was already on offer, I could know that there was something coming in future that I could continue playing to prepare for in advance.

CTR:NF was another game that I would see leaks for whenever a new GP was starting soon. Only knowing the general theme and the potential characters didn't spoil the announcements for me, because I still didn't know how the track would be like or what the characters would look like. Plus sometimes the leaks weren't accurate and a character I expected to see didn't come, so there was still excitement about who would actually be in now and then wondering when the others would be announced later. For example, Baby Cortex and Baby N. Tropy were datamined for the Back N. Time GP, which was the second GP of the game. They didn't turn up until all the GP's were over and even though I knew they existed, it was still a surprise to see them finally show up.

On the other hand, I wouldn't want leaks for a game like Smash. Character reveals are a big deal for that game, and for me the whole point of tuning in to those Direct's is to find out who got in. I don't care much for their moves and whatnot, which is all I would be left with if I knew who the character will be beforehand, so then the whole announcement loses any appeal to me.

I guess generally I like leaks that I don't think will take the wind out of the sails for the real thing. Story leaks for example would run the risk of taking away the impact of the story, and even though I feel a good story should be able to stand up well even knowing what happens, I still like trying to keep in the dark for any story where I really want to go in blind. There's some stories where I don't mind knowing some stuff up front though.

[Mr EliteL]

I can't stand game leaks. I'd rather patient for reveals and releases, don't want to know of anything beforehand so I can get the full feeling of excitement and hype. Simply knowing someone has gone and leaked something ruins a part of my interest. Why do it? For news and clickbaits? That's all that's cared about now. I only get those who were previously working or whatever with a company to do it out of spite. Eh. Still, dislike there are people who go into the game files to find possible hints for more content then share ahead of official reveal. I want surprise, and it's too rare for me at the moment. So yeah, I aim to avoid leaks as much as I can.

For console leaks though I couldn't careless about. There could be something claiming the next gen are doing something outrageously different that could potentially spell doom for them. I wouldn't care too much, just be confused.

[ShiraNoMai]

The only leaks I will be positive about are the possibility of an announcement through them. Those build hype and anticipation without spoiling the actual contents.

Everything else, as EL mentioned, is trash and I hate their existence.

[Moonface]

The only leaks I will be positive about are the possibility of an announcement through them. Those build hype and anticipation without spoiling the actual contents.

Depends on the extent the announcement is leaked. The recent Paper Mario ones for example just gave away what the next game might be like, but it didn't give away it was going to be an origami aesthetic or how battles work, etc.
But let's say the next mainline Mario game was leaked and all we got was say, "Super Mario Odyssey 2", I'd be less excited by that than just "A new Mario game will be announced in x month", because then it narrows down what that game will be like. I know there won't be Galaxy mechanics or something, and I also know it isn't a brand new thing so it limits what I can expect.

[popopdc]

I think that from a practical standpoint, leaks help to build hype for a game, and overall, that is something I’d probably appreciate if I stood to gain in a monetary way from a game. That being said, as a gamer, I don’t like them when they are overly specific, because I prefer to avoid spoilers.

[WR91]

I absolutely HATE leaks and try to avoid them at any and all costs. The last leak that was out there was for The Last of Us Part II right?

Thankfully I avoided them and got to enjoy and experience the game from start to finish without the outside noise that was this game.

9.5/10 for me by the way.

[Moonface]

I absolutely HATE leaks and try to avoid them at any and all costs. The last leak that was out there was for The Last of Us Part II right?

It's the most recent notable one I know of. Most other leaks tend to be just for reveals, and appears to be Ubisoft's bread and butter for their reveals. It almost seems like they leak their stuff on purpose given how often it happens to them.