The lights are on
Details of Bungie’s latest game leaked online yesterday, and it led us to start thinking about some of video game’s biggest leaks of the past.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – About six months before the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and before the game was even officially announced, a huge glut of information about the game appeared online offering tons of details on everything from the new aspects of multiplayer, to the plot details of the storyline. If you read through all the documents that appeared online, nothing was a mystery or a surprise when you finally got to play the game.
Half-Life 2 – Half-Life 2 was the unfortunate victim of a leak, but it didn’t get quite as out of hand as Modern Warfare 3. The source for the game was stolen and everyone at Valve had a panic attack, but they jumped on the thief early and the code that made it online ended up not revealing a ton of details about the game, as Valve was still hard at work adding new stuff. The man who hacked into Valve’s network and stole the file has since apologized and promised to purchase all of Valve’s games with hard-earned money.
Doom 4 – Doom 4 is a real thing that id has acknowledged it is working on, so what leaked wasn’t an unplanned early announcement or anything like that. It was a collection of over 170 images that featured characters models, concept art, and environment images. Design director Matt Hooper acknowledged the leak, but also said that the final product has all kinds of stuff that didn’t show up in any of those images.
Mass Effect 3 – The multiplayer beta for Mass Effect 3 accidentally went live a little bit sooner than BioWare wanted it to, which wouldn’t have been too bad, but people picked apart the files to find story details for the unreleased game.
Sony – Sony has a long history with leaks, whether it be the accidental reveal of unannounced hardware, or the leaking of personal information of all of its users. Every time a new model of PlayStation 3 has been placed into production, it seems to get leaked. The PSP Go was prematurely revealed, as was PlayStation Home. The recent PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale went through all kinds of leaks before it finally released. Even the trailer for The Last Guardian, which was called Project Trico when it leaked, released earlier than planned.
How do you feel about games leaking early? Is it exciting? Or something you don't like seeing? Sound off in our reader discussion!
Email the author Kyle Hilliard, or follow on Twitter, Google+, Facebook, and Game Informer.
Sony Leeks! rofl
When I was kid, I loved leaks, but then I realized they ruined the great moments in the game. Nowadays, if I hear something about a game I like has been leaked, I stay far away.
"If you read through all the documents that appeared online, nothing was a mystery or a surprise when you finally got to play the game."
Shouldn't this read "If you played any other Call of Duty, nothing was a mystery or a surprise when you finally got to play the game."?
Fixed.
I hate leaks like that!!
Leeks are very healthy for you.
I LOATHE leaks.
People just need to be more *** patient.
Oh, come on. It's the new age of marketing. You 'leak' something online for the people to consume and chew up for awhile before you announce it's official. Why do you think Microsoft has a 'no comments on rumors' clause?
The worst part of leaks is that they are almost impossible to not look at. You want to look when you see a game you are excited about, period. I really wish we didn't have this "instant gratification" problem...
I remember watching "Back to the Future II" in theaters the weekend it came out, not even the first showing. Surprised as hell when the BTTFIII trailer was shown at the end of the movie. I haven't really been surprised by anything of that magnitude again.....
how can you call the mw3 leak bigger than half life 2? Valve had FBI search down the hacker and it delayed the game one year
Leaks take the interesting part of the product.
welcome come to http://www.shoppingone.net Offer Wholesale
Shoes.China Nike Shoes, Air Max Shoes, Shox Shoes, Discount
Gucci, Prada, LV, Cheap NFL Jerseys, NBA Jerseys, MlB
Jerseys, NHL Jerseys, on Sale, For Cheap, Wholesale Fom China
！
the website wholesale for many kinds of fashion shoes, like
the nike,jordan,prada, also including
the jeans,shirts,bags,hat and the decorations. All the
products are free shipping, and the price
is competitive, and also can accept the paypal payment！
we are wholesale in many models of the jerseys ,our store
have
the promotional ativity nowadays , ordering more than 30pcs!
jerseys at a time , will send one cap as free for the gift !
30 Days Return Guarantee!!!
http://www.shoppingone.net Offer Wholesale Shoes.China Nike
Shoes, Air Max Shoes, Shox Shoes, Discount Gucci, Prada, LV,
Cheap NFL Jerseys, NBA Jerseys, MlB Jerseys, NHL Jerseys, on
Sale, For Cheap, Wholesale Fom China！
they taste horrible but with a little cooking know how you can make them taste pretty good! hehe.. and yes this works for game leaks as well.
dear god...that last pic is one of the worst puns I've ever seen. Ugh
How about every Halo game ever, how do you miss that for this list?
How did they even pick apart ME3 from a multiplayer beta? Makes no sense to me