PushDustIn talks about the possible reasons why LKD leaked Dark Souls Remastered for the Nintendo Switch.
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SCRIPT:
Hello guys, PushDustIn from Source Gaming with a different kind of video today.
I’ll be talking about why I think Laura Kate Dale leaked news about Dark Souls Remastered for the Nintendo Switch, hours before the presentation and in the end why doing so, she’s is progressing video game journalism in the right direction.
Before I get into this, I do want to make something absolutely clear. The comment section will be locked if I see it heading in a negative direction. It’s okay to debate, but it’s not okay to hate.
As I will explain later in the video, I believe Laura’s actions are contributing to better reporting standards. You may disagree with my opinion, and offer your own take below.
With that all out of the way, let’s begin.
Recently there’s been a great thread on ResetEra that is tracking Nintendo rumors. In that thread, I wrote a lengthy post about why people leak — both journalists and sources. For the full scoop, I’ll go ahead and link the post in the description below. But let me quickly summarize my points.
People leak details about games for a wide range of reasons. Company politics, genuine excitement or just word of mouth seem to be the most common. With the rise to fame of some reporters who have leaked things, there have been many imitators who seem to be doing it to promote themselves. A bit off topic but I believe that the rise of leaks is due to two things. The first is the lack of Nintendo news had at the end of the Wii U, and the second is Satoru Iwata’s unfortunate passing. In my post on ResetEra, I warned against leaking things recklessly as it is something that will have ramifications against your source and your credibility as a journalist if not done properly.
Reporters like Laura Kate Dale, Emily Rogers, and Liam Robertson have a great track record. They have missed or gotten some key information wrong in the past but with their history it’s reasonable to assume they have good reporting standards and have a good supply of information.
Now onto the subject at hand. Dark Souls for the Switch was not a very well kept secret. It was rumored by several other reporters for awhile. When LKD reported it on Kotaku UK she may not have been the first, but she was 100% accurate with the timing of the announcement.
If you remember the collective Nintendo community was going insane hours before the direct. People were lighting Chibi Robos on fire and fans were ripping their hair out to figure out the hidden meaning of Mii character in a hotdog suit and a talking parrot. LKD’s leak actually offered some clarity to the chaos, and probably calmed some fans down.
Now I’m going to offer my own explanation on why I believe LKD leaked Dark Souls hours before. This is only my opinion, and LKD may have her own reasons.
The first reason why it makes perfect sense for LKD to leak Dark Souls is because by doing so, she is bolstering her credibility. There are a lot of people who still do not give LKD the proper recognition she deserves. Essentially by leaking this announcement, she is pouring water on those naysayers. This leak undoubtedly proves that she does has access to information early.
The second reason is because she is showing other informants that she can be trusted with rumors and leaks. She in no way jeopardized or hinted at her source, which will allow her to gain new sources in the future. What’s more is that the spread of the leak will make it more likely for future informants to already be aware of her work.
The third reason is because she’s doing her job. She doesn’t work at Bandai Namco, she doesn’t work for Nintendo. She’s a video game journalist. She’s not responsible for a game’s PR, she is responsible for uncovering and reporting on scoops. Some fans are upset that she leaked it only hours before, in a direct which mainly consisted of news of older games coming to the Switch. May I remind you that the game in question is in itself a re-release.
I’ve talked about the intimacy of PR and video game journalism in the past before on Source Gaming. But uncovering scoops like Dark Souls is essential to create more boundaries between PR and games journalism so it should be celebrated by the majority of gaming fans.
Now, I can understand that some gaming fans are upset. They feel like the surprise was robbed from them. I can sympathize with them to some degree. After all, after I leaked some details on Ryu and Roy’s addition to Smash for Wii U and 3DS I felt a sense of regret for ruining people’s surprise. But Dark Souls on the Switch wasn’t that much of surprise since it’s been heavily rumored in the past. Personally, I think the leak benefited the Nintendo community as a whole.
What do you think? Do you think LKD acted responsibly when reporting on Dark Souls, or should she have approached it in a different way? [Standard outro after this]
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There are several things that I don’t understand about this. For example how did Iwata’s passing and the lack of news during the last mounths of the Wii U have any impact on the amount of leaks?
I don’t understand gow leaking Dark Souls just a few hours the Direct would improve her credibility since, as you said, it wasn’t a really big secret and we had a lot of other reports about it. By doing it at such a late moment it seemed like she was just jumping on someone else’s leak, in order to get attention, which is extremely important for her job as a journalist, rather than having her own source. By giving this impression the result she had was the opposite.
I don’t see the correlation between leaking a game and “creating boundiaries between gamers and PR”. If that was the case the leakers would not be fired once discovered. And a man/woman loosing his/her job is never a cause for celebration (tho it must be noted that LKD usually is quite good at leaving her source undiscovered).
About the whole “she calmed down the isanity that run among the Nintendo comunity” I would say that she actually didn’t do anything in that regard. Just by giving out the major surprise of that Direct just hours before the actual reveal (where the isanity actually run out) really didn’t change a thing, because in the grand schemes of things her leak was seen by a minority of people. I for sure didn’t seen that, and I am an active Nintendo fan from Europe on most social network.
Personally I don’t have any hate for LKD, and I hope that this comment shows it. While I am not a fan of her, I do follow other famous insiders, in particular Emily Rogers, so I am not against this kind of reports. But LKD could have handled things a lot better.
I hope to hear an answer to my opinion about this whole situation. In the meanwhile have a good day.
Hey, thanks for your reply!
I might do a full video exploring my thoughts on the subject, but the short and sweet version is this: After Iwata’s passing, Nintendo went through A LOT of internal re-structuring. Some people didn’t like the way the company was going, so more leaks occurred. Also, the lack of Nintendo News made news sites hungry for information which gave more attention to leaks, many which wouldn’t have been news for a long time. Also the NX being announced/ but not shown for a long time and fan demand definitely ties into it.
LKD was 100% accurate with her timing and information. As I said, she may or may not have been the first but she was the most accurate. I did fail to mention that she did previously report that DS was coming way before she called it in the direct.
Basically, game companies don’t like leaks. They don’t like reporters who cover it. Kotaku made a company angry, (I think Bethesda) when Kotaku reported on leaks, so it stopped giving Kotaku early access. However, that made Kotaku extremely free to criticize that company at the same time. Look at Jim Sterling, he exists in his own circle and calls out bullshit whenever he needs to.
I think having a big surprise be a port would’ve added some reality to the situation to those who did see it.
Let me know if you want me to explain more of my thoughts 🙂