How is possible that games like ES6 and GTA VI are being developed with hundreds or thousands of people but they can still keep it a secret?
In: Technology
If they’re keeping it a secret how do you know they’re developing them?
It’s mostly the threat of lawsuits for violating any non-disclosure agreements they had to sign to work on the project. I think most people don’t want to have to deal with the legal system and giving up a ton of money just for the sake of posting a screenshot of an unfinished game online.
Most people working for game studios are really passionate about what they do – you kind of have to be, for the long hours and low pay (compared to what you could earn in other software industries) – and they don’t want to harm their product by leaking. There’s also the threat of being fired or sued if the studio figures out who the leaker was.
Many times, especially secret assets and plans are also individually distinguished, so they would be able to tell who leaked it.
Employees have to sign non-disclosure agreements before being let near the project. If they leak any information, they breach the contract and face a hefty lawsuit + most likely lose their jobs.
Ive heard stories that even voice actors have no idea what they are acting for. In Fallout 4, the rumor is that the guy who voiced Kellogg didnt even know he was doing a Fallout game until after release and heard his voice in game when his kid or friends kid was playing it.
It’s because neither of them is actually in development so there’s no actual information to be leaked. 🙂
(Joking, but only partially. My fiancee has given up asking me when the next ES will be released because I kept responding “No new info yet, sorry.”)
They have extraordinary controls on what goes in and out of the network and what goes in and out of the building. They will usually decrypt all outbound communication to look for leaked code, search people on the way out of the buildings, restrict access to USB ports on computers, ‘air gap’ certain computers, etc etc. It isn’t all that easy to sneak information out of those networks and for good reason. That practically indecipherable code is what pays everyone’s checks.
“If you tell anyone you’re fired” “maybe the world can wait another month for the actual trailer to release instead me posting an 8 pixel square with 2 colors on it.”
I’m guessing part of it is that no one knows the final product. Like a kitchen you have a guy chopping vegetables, guy on cleaning spice, guy on meat they all contribute to the final dish but none really has an idea of what it’s going to be like until the chef puts it all together.
A couple of reasons. Compartmentalization is one way. They restrict info on a need to know basis. The biggest way, though is having consequences for being the one who leaks. Not to mention that people who create games absolutely love it and don’t want to be black listed from their career of choice.
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