Fallout 4 – Kotaku presents.... GTA 6 and Other Biggest Leaks in Gaming's History
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The story of Fallout 4 leaks would probably be impossible, or at least not in the same way – I guess it would amount to little more than a brief discussion on Twitter. A year before the announcement of the game, details about it were published by Jason Schreier himself on Kotaku. The journalist received some confidential documents from a reader of the website, who auditioned for one of the roles in Bethesda's new game. It was all top-secret, of course, and the word "Fallout" was nowhere to be found, actually. The candidates only got to know the working name "Project Institute."
In the case of such a strong IP, however, just a few details were enough to guess, with full confidence, what game was in question. I mean, one of the pages started with the series' famous catchphrase: "War never changes." The mission description revealed Boston's MIT as the site of action, which was in line with earlier reports of Bethesda employees paying the institute a visit. There were many character descriptions in the documents, mentions of Preston Garvey, mission briefs, etc. So, even before the announcement, players learned details like place of action and the general outline of the new Fallout. It's also worth mentioning that in those days, players were really hungry for information about the next game in this series, because the leak from Kotaku was preceded by many false announcements.
Aftermath
Eager for all Fallout news, players were delighted! Especially after so many previous scams, fake materials, smoke and mirrors. Eventually they got seizable, credible details about the gam. But Bethesda wasn't laughing. The studio first refused to comment on this, and then reportedly put Schreier and Kotaku on its "blacklist," even banning revieew copies of the game for them.
