Leaks, Scandals, and Silence - Game Over for Industry Leakers

Nintendo Direct presentations always have an air of excitement around them, and the most recent Direct in particular had a bittersweet feeling to it being most likely the final Direct for the Nintendo Switch. Gamers were not really anticipating much in the way of new titles, but were surprised by a bevy of 1st party announcements, remasters, and 3rd party support leading into the holiday period. People were closely watching the usual suspects who previously leaked these announcements, but they were nowhere to be seen, preoccupied in the weeks leading up to the Nintendo Direct with drama, plot twists, shocking reveals, and surprisingly... silence.

[@nicked_fenyx]

Great analysis - informative and fair. While I understand why leakers do what they do, and why so many people look forward to those leaks, personally I tend to fall more on the side of leaks being unnecessary at best, and harmful at worst. Maybe it's because I'm older than the average gamer, but I don't have an issue waiting until a game's developers choose to unveil their creation. If I put myself in their shoes and had worked hard on a cool new game I hoped people would be pumped about, only to have not just the title but some core gameplay aspects leaked, it would feel a bit demoralizing. This would be even more true if I were an indie dev planning on a carefully crafted, multi-stage release of info to help build hype around my game.
I feel like the risk of doing harm (especially to smaller teams) just so I can get info in advance about a game I love isn't worth it. Gaining information early doesn't change the release date of the game. I still have to wait. So why risk doing harm (or even causing discouragement/frustration) to the very people creating the thing I love so much? Speculation is fine and can help build hype in a non-harmful way, but leaks are a different matter. I'd rather wait and let the devs follow their own release plans. Those can be fun, too.

[@whatsitlikeau]

I really like your take on this, and I appreciate your feedback on the story. I tried to remain impartial as that's what I got taught I should do as a journalist (a very green one at that!)
I love all things gaming so I can feel for teams when this information is leaked, but I also have covered some leaks when making Direct predictions, which I won't be doing anymore after talking to these devs.
I also understand the motivations, clicks and views equals money, but it's a short-term reward in my opinion