User:DFaceG/Workbench 4

Last year around the time of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's release, there was an influx of edits on the wiki prior to the game's release date containing a significant number of spoilers, both minor and major—including late-game events. The vast majority of these edits were attributed to pre-release reviews or gameplay videos released to websites such as YouTube, which often contained significant gameplay footage with very little spoiler prevention. The following Senate Hall was written with the intention of addressing the problem at the time, but it was never finished. We have brought the topic of discussion back, however, due to the now-impending release of Star Wars Outlaws, as we believe that clarifications regarding what content is permitted to be on the wiki prior to the release of the game, as presently Wookieepedia:Spoilers largely fails to account for pre-release content not provided by Lucasfilm itself.

IGN's Relationship with AAA Studios

On the Editorial Standards page of IGN's website, the section NDA and Embargoes states the following regarding IGN's legal relationships with corporate AAA game developers and publishers in regards to pre-release game information: "IGN aims to provide you with content that's timely, comprehensive, and reliable. In order to do that prior to the public release of the game, movie, technology, or other entertainment we're covering, we often have to agree to non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and embargoes with the creators of the projects and products we cover. It's a very common practice that allows us to have better content prepped in advance of a game or movie's announcement or release."^[1] While we can't be sure of exactly what such NDAs entail, it would by definition limit IGN's ability to state certain information—likely major game spoilers—prior to the release of a given game.

IGN also notably does not allow the open posting of spoilers in their article's comments until six months after a game's release. "When a game, movie or book is released, please wait six months before openly discussing spoiler content in article comments. You can post spoilers in spoiler-threads on the message boards or use visible spoiler warnings in comments and avoid openly posting major plot points that could ruin the experience for those who aren't yet in the know. Posting information with the intent to spoil the experience for others will result in a deletion on your first offense. Continue to post spoilers and you will not be allowed to comment on IGN."^[2]

On the topic of early access copies for individual reviewers (Youtube, Twitch, etc...)

From what is publicly available, there is little to no evidence that YouTubers who receive early access to video games are under any legal agreement prohibiting them from spreading any spoilers on their YouTube page or in any video. While some may receive review copies, there are also instances where some manage to somehow receive the game incredibly early or receive a copy that broke street date—sometimes weeks in advance. This is not always a problem, as some content creators choose to abstain from spoilers, focusing only on gameplay and vague story details. Some may also have a publicly noted embargo of gameplay the developer did allow them to show. However, some videos might lack such notices or upload significant swathes of the game's content a good amount of time prior to release. While others do provide spoiler warnings, this does not always prohibit said information from finding its way onto the Wook prior to game release, such as when a spoiler about Bode from a video by Skill Games was posted to Bode's page prior to Survivor's release. Similarly, spoilers containing info such as Dagan Gera's death were added to his page days before the game's release, despite no official early release as described in the below section.

Early access

There are some titles—including the upcoming Star Wars Outlaws—that provide a certain number of days' early access to a title prior to its more widespread release. This is not to be confused with review copies or the aforementioned broken street date copies that some content creators or individuals somehow receive. Instead, this is an explicitly defined promotion meant to entice players to pre-order certain editions of the games. For example, pre-ordering the Gold Edition or more expensive editions of Star Wars Outlaws will allow players to access the game as early as August 27th–29th rather than August 30th. This is technically an official release, but as it is not the day the majority of players may access the game, it is important to define precisely what Wookieepedia's stance on the matter shall be.

Notes and references

Senate Hall co-written by AmazinglyCool and DFaceG.

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