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Could a Leak Destroy the Biggest Release of the Year?

Could a Leak Destroy the Biggest Release of the Year?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, I’m sure you’ve heard the unfortunate news that Uncharted 4 is already in the hands of many people around the world. At the time of writing, the story of how the game made its way into the wild is still unfolding. The only official statement from Sony states that several copies of the game (the quantity is unknown) were stolen while in transit during a “violent” robbery. That was in the UK. We haven’t heard any reports of injury or death, so we can assume that everyone is okay. Maybe it would have been more suitable to say “armed” robbery instead.

At any rate, it sounds like that wasn’t the only breach. We heard reports that people in Germany and the U.S. have copies of the game as well. Early reports blamed Amazon for sending the game out early, and several screen-caps proved as much. There was also an anecdote from some chap in the UK who said he walked into a store and was able to buy a copy off of the shelf, with a picture of his receipt and the game in hand to prove it. Sony denied the validity of the story saying, “Any suggestion that UK retailers have broken the official street date is not correct.”

No one can get the story straight, but one thing is clear: people are playing Uncharted 4 right now. They can’t play online and trophies aren’t going to sync, but they can sure as hell play through the entire campaign and spoil it for the rest of us. That’s our biggest fear right now – the internet equivalent of the people who would drive by crowds lined up outside of bookstores while shouting “Dumbledore dies!” We know this is the last Uncharted game starring Nathan Drake, we know Naughty Dog has spent years pouring their hearts and souls into it, and we know it’s set to be one of the most exciting conclusions to any story this generation.

Most of you have years of anticipation leading up to the ending of this one game. If I were you I’d stay clear of forums, stay off of the message boards, and stay away from YouTube. As soon as I heard about this leak I told my YouTube partner, “There’s no way the entirety of this campaign won’t be uploaded to YouTube by the day after tomorrow.” I figured surely someone will be fool enough to spend over a hundred dollars to buy this game off of eBay and then post their gameplay online to attract tens of thousands of viewers.

Could a Leak Destroy the Biggest Release of the Year?

The more I think about it, though, I think you’re probably safer on YouTube than you are on message boards. I’m sure Sony and Naughty Dog have algorithms working to track down any and all video footage of the game so they can take it down immediately. Hell, if I record a video and someone next door is playing an NES and it picks up for a moment on the microphone Nintendo will have that sucker flagged before I even finish uploading it. If they can track down videos that quickly, then so can Sony.

What would it mean for you, though, if A Thief’s End is spoiled? Are there any of you reading this right now who’d cancel your pre-order if you heard the ending and it turns out to be much worse than you could have imagined? If you knew every detail – every twist and turn – would you still feel fulfilled playing through the game for yourself? Personally I wouldn’t miss the experience for the world, but I’d be pretty bummed out the whole time having that nagging foreknowledge hanging over my head. Keep your heads down, comrades, and for anyone out there playing the game and waiting to drop some spoilers, just be warned: I know people who know how to find you.

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