'Media Showing Insomniac Games' Stolen Materials Should be Ashamed;' Data Theft Sparks Discussion
The high-profile leak of Insomniac Games data and the emerging news about it in the media have sparked a discussion online. It involves developers, journalists and online whistleblowers, most of whom speak out against the „distribution” of the stolen materials by various website.
This week we've all been living the leak (some say theft) that befell Insomniac Games. In addition to the previously expressed words of support for the developers there is also a heated discussion online about the creation of news stories based on the information shared by the hackers.
Can the media use leaked information?
One of the first to speak out on the issue on X was Eric Stirpe, a scriptwriter at Remedy who worked on, among other projects. Control 2. Surprisingly, after some time he decided to hide his posts. His words are quoted after Games Radar.
"What happened to Insomniac is not a “leak;” it was a malicious blackmailing by hackers that dragged people’s personal info and privacy into the mix. Every outlet, every influencer, using material procured by these hackers in their own “news” and “content” should be ashamed" Stirpe wrote.
Other developers agree with him, such as Brian Keschinger, a designer at Respawn Entertainment, who commented the latest news from IGN or Kotaku editors based on the leak.
"I’m exhausted by this industry’s posturing for devs and zero peer accountability around leaks. You’ll see it all over your feeds today, but don’t forget they’ll profit from leaks. There’s a difference in reporting the event and detailing the contents of the leak. Do better." Keschinger conveyed.
Journalists also took part in this discussion. The proverbial two cents were added by Jeff Grubb, noting the addition of context to the whole issue in the news. Tom Warren of The Verge's editorial board agrees with him, who also expressed his opinion publicly. He believes the leak in question may even be a turning point for the media in its approach to reporting on such events.
Of course, in addition to developers and journalists the voice of online developers and whistleblowers could not be missed. User Ben, who specializes in Rockstar Games, wrote directly:
"Some folks on Twitter are a joke, sharing gameplay footage of Wolverine for likes is a insult to the devs who are also dealing with their personal information being leaked online on top. It’s everywhere on For You. Twitter Gaming community is disappointing. Have some respect"
In turn Okami (another online insider) is proud of the people who behaved "the right way," i.e. did not share the leaked materials, and scolds other users who spoil the image of online whistleblowers.
Quite a different opinion was presented by user SpeckObst, or, as he describes himself, "sort of a video game critic."
"The leaking of personal information is obviously harmful and should be denounced. But I fail to see why people reporting on the sales data, footage or future plans is harmful? Feels like protecting corporate control and profit. This isn't some tiny indie studio."
Let's point out that these are, of course, not all the voices in the ongoing discussion. His critical stance on reporting the details of the leak was also presented by Pyo (a popular Internet developer, informer), indirectly by Stephen Totilo (from the editorial board of Axios) or Neil Druckmann (creator of The Last of Us) standing in solidarity with Insomniac Games.
Tough time for Insomniac Games
After the highly successful release of Marvel's Spider-Man 2 the studio has to deal with one of the biggest leaks in the history of the game industry, mainly related to their next title, which will focus on Wolverine.
Recall that a ransomware group is responsible for stealing Insomniac Games' data. The aforementioned Totilo forwarded, that the hackers had also previously attacked the IT network of hospitals.
It is not known at this time how this will affect the work of the developers, but possible delays are to be expected. Upcoming Marvel's Wolverine so far has no official release date, and the developers have released only one video announcing the game.
Insomniac Games has so far not commented on the matter. Several hours after the leak, it published only one small post on X, where it showed the wing suit from Spider-Man 2.
