valve
As we speak, an interesting situation is developing in video game coverage: popular tech site The Verge has published a large amount of information about Valve’s secret shooter Deadlock, which is described as a mix of Dota 2, Team Fortress 2 and Overwatch.
The problem? Many fans are angry that they posted this and accuse them of breaking a non-disclosure agreement and violating the information provided, which states:
“Early Development Version: Deadlock is still in early development, with a lot of temporary graphics and experimental gameplay. Do not reveal anything about the game to anyone.”
But the loophole here is that this is just… the honor system. As Verge editor Tom Warren notes, they:
- Have not signed or agreed to a confidentiality agreement.
- No verbal agreement was made with Valve regarding the sharing of information.
- You don’t even have to click through the EULA because when you exit it, it just disappears and you can play.
So Sean Hollister from The Verge got an invite, played the game, and published information about what they were playing.
This has sparked a storm of outrage online among Valve defenders and other early testers. Warren’s tweet about the story was noted by the community, saying that The Verge had broken an “informal non-disclosure agreement asking them not to share any information about the game.”
In an update to the story, The Verge reports that they were actually excluded from the game test shortly after the story was published, which the players are apparently happy about.
These are decisions you make as part of your reporting, and sometimes, when it comes down to “some people might think I’m a jerk for doing this,” you’ll still publish information that no one else will, especially if you haven’t agreed to some sort of legally binding nondisclosure agreement or even an embargo.
The end result of this can be that you get blacklisted by a publisher or developer. We’ve seen information leaks lead to this kind of thing on a number of gaming websites over the years, and it could now happen here at The Verge. But considering that Valve only releases a game about once a decade, this might not be that important to them.
I’m not sure what I would have done in that situation, but yes, technically The Verge had the right to do it, no matter how angry people might be about it, including Valve. However, the backlash from all parties might be more trouble than it’s worth.
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