valve
valve
An interesting video game reporting situation is unfolding right now, as popular tech site The Verge has published a ton of information about Valve’s secretive shooter, Deadlock, which has been described as a mix of Dota 2, Team Fortress 2, and Overwatch all in one.
The problem? Many fans are furious that they released this, accusing them of violating the NDA and going against the information contained therein.
“Early Development Build: Deadlock is still in early development and contains a lot of temporary art and experimental gameplay. Please do not share information about the game with anyone.”
But the loophole here is that this is just… an honor system. As Verge editor Tom Warren points out:
I did not sign or agree to an NDA, I never had a verbal information-sharing agreement with Valve, and I don’t even have to click through the EULA – if you cancel it will go away and you can play.
So Sean Hollister from The Verge was invited to play the game and share some information about what it’s like to play.
The incident sparked a fierce debate online among Valve defenders and other early testers, and Warren’s tweets about the incident garnered attention in the community, with The Verge saying that he “violated an informal NDA that asked him not to share any information about the game.”
In an update to the story, The Verge reports that they were indeed banned from playtesting shortly after the story was published, and players seem to be happy about it.
These are decisions you make when reporting, and sometimes it means, “Some people might think I’m a terrible person if I do this,” but you end up publishing information that no one else is reporting, especially if you haven’t agreed to some sort of binding NDA or embargo.
Ultimately, this could be the kind of behavior that could get a publisher or developer blacklisted. We’ve seen this happen with leaks on numerous gaming sites over the years, and now it could happen with The Verge. However, given that Valve releases games about once every decade, this may not be a big deal for them.
I don’t know how I would have acted in this situation, but yes, technically, The Verge had the right to do this no matter how angry people were, including Valve, but the backlash from all parties involved might end up being too much hassle to be worth it.
Follow us on Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.
Check out my sci-fi novels, the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
