It is extremely hard to keep something a secret in the modern gaming industry, and the constant flow of leaks and rumors can seriously damage anticipation when there’s too much information revealed. It's even worse when it comes to teasing new content for service-based online games. Take, for instance, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and the leaks regarding its supposed battle royale mode. The developers left some obvious hints, but the community went much further than that. Players dug into the game’s files and unfinished gameplay sections only to expose their findings to the public. Spoiling a movie or a TV show is considered nowadays a very selfish and rude move, so why isn't spoiling an upcoming gaming experience to such extent treated differently?

A closer look at the spoilers and rumors regarding video games make it clear that they somehow generate heat and interest in the community. Regardless of whether a person's anticipation is killed because of another leak, the general public will talk about the affected IP much more than they would otherwise. It is indeed the case for Modern Warfare. The game was already getting significant attention, but the recent craze over the heavily rumored battle royale mode has sensibly boosted the game’s popularity. It becomes fairly obvious that publishers are mostly interested in “leaking” information regarding their games.

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Of course, there are situations when some irresponsible people deliberately violate NDAs, which later might result in legal actions against them, but no one has crossed the line with Modern Warfare, yet.

Do Leaks and Spoilers Kill Anticipation

Call of Duty Modern Warfare Warzone Leak

The gaming industry (and its product, video games) is a completely different matter compared to movies or TV shows. The latter usually operate with aggressive spoilers, revealing information about a finale, a plot twist, or (during pre-production) cast surprises and story details. By contrast, video game spoilers, leaks, and rumors do not necessarily inherit the negative sides of excessive information reveals. Still, they have the power to hurt a fan's feelings and kill the anticipation when there’s too much exposure.

In the case of Modern Warfare, it would’ve been much better if no one glitched their way to the unfinished gameplay sections. Those who watched the leaks will no longer feel the splendor of initial emotions when they launch the official version of Warzone. All people really need is just a tiny piece of a spoiler: something to draw your interest and create the anticipation, but insignificant enough to not spoil the overall experience. It should avoid situations like the way the story in Marvel’s Avengers was ruined.

Interestingly, publishers and developers can directly affect the spread of leaks and rumors in their favor. A great example is the recent series of teases regarding Season 4 in Apex Legends. Much like other online titles with frequent software updates, Apex is the target of data miners who can dig out tons of information from the game’s files. Respawn was aware of that, and to maintain the surprising reveal of an anticipated new Legend, the developers made a fake one, named Forge. The community fell for that, and he was later light-heartedly killed by the developers who then revealed the true newcomer and left an “Easter egg” for the fans on the updated map. This is a great example of how to treat the community right – and how to keep the anticipation alive.

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