The Verge Under Fire For Publishing Info About ‘Deadlock,’ Valve’s Secret Shooter

ByteOnBikes@slrpnk.net to Games@lemmy.world – 274 points –
The Verge Under Fire For Publishing Info About ‘Deadlock,’ Valve’s Secret Shooter
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So what. They already have their article and it will be out anyways within like two years latest probably. The value of talking about deadlock is much higher and valve profits from this advertising as well.

The so what is that this writer for the verge will likely never be trusted with NDA type pre-release access for any other games going forward, and this may even impact all of the Verge.

This isn't just a one and done kind of issue, this will be seen by the entire industry as a "can't trust that guy with pre-release access"

The Verge isn't pulling the article and they are currently backing their journo. The whole site is blacklisted at this point.

They didn't get an NDA.

Sure they don't have any trust from the industry anymore.

It doesn't have to be a legal document for there to be consequences.

The rest of the industry uses embargo agreements with mutual consent if they have private information. This doesn't change anything for other game companies, unless they also want to do private-but-not-private beta tests.

Sure, and they proved that they won't respect valves wishes unless legally required to do so. Valve is now in a position where if they want to do future play tests they will have to manage NDAs for everyone which is probably more trouble than it's worth. The general population is now less likely to get an opportunity like this because the verge wanted to get some easy clicks. It's pathetic of them to sell us out like this.

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Except this is a game industry reputation ruined. It isn't just valve, why would any dev ever give the verge access again knowing that they will not only disrespect your requests but bitch and moan if you hold them to it.

It's a full rep killer. They will never have early access again for any company.

That's not how this works. The Verge didn't break an NDA or embargo because they didn't get either of those things. Valve allows random people to invite other random people to play, with just a "pretty please don't talk about this game" warning. There was already people talking about it online and leaked footage.

They didn't break any laws, they broke trust. Random people can leak all they want, they don't have institutional standing and respect. If what you said was true then it'd be pretty weird that every other institutional news, even gaming focused ones, have honored that request. Because doing otherwise is a dick move that kills your reputation, and the gaming industry is legendary for blacklisting for far less disrespectful moves. Downright petty with it.

even if it doesn't, they lose consumer respect as well, I personally won't engage verge anymore because as someone who wants to go into the development trade, it puts a bad taste of any platform to blatantly disrespect a creators wishes like that.

If Valve wants to be shitty about it, that's within their right (unless they want to sue, which would be difficult to defend in court without a written legal agreement). It is also true that other outlets are free to do handshake agreements to not cover the game. The Verge didn't break any rules, and Valve already maintains a minimal relationship with the press, so not talking to The Verge probably wouldn't change anything.

I see you subscribe to the moral theory of "I didn't click okay, I hit escape".

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