Respawn writer explains why Apex Legends leakers can be “insidious”

[jwplayer UQowmNq2]Respawn Entertainment’s writer for Apex Legends, Tom Casiello, has doubled down on his criticisms of leakers, explaining why he does not think they “help” and why their actions are, in fact, “insidious.”

Fans crave information and therefore often enjoy leaks from their favorite games. The people behind those games conversely despise said leaks as a betrayal of the work and planning they’ve put in.

That relationship is storied, nuanced, and has long been a point of contention across multiple industries — but an especially volatile one in gaming, where leakers often do not need actual human contacts to reveal private information.

In a conversation with Apex Legends fans on Twitter, Casiello reiterated that he blocks anyone who leaks story elements because their actions constitute “something a lot more insidious than a difference of opinion.”

• Read more: Apex voice actor teases “juicy” Lifeline lore on its way

Later, Casiello jumped on the analogy a fan painted for why leaking is inherently unhelpful. The analogy paints leaking as akin to someone spoiling the present you’ve gotten someone by giving that present away to them, receiving the person’s gratitude, and subsequently telling you that you should have ‘hid it better.’

Casiello’s response to that analogy was that it is “the greatest” and a perfect response to people who tell him that “they’re doing it to ‘help.’”

We won’t pick a side here, but the situation is not black and white. On the one hand, leakers are providing a service that fans enjoy and, in doing so, helping amplify the hype surrounding a game in what will always be a very competitive industry. On the other hand, some of these leaks can ruin surprises that people have worked tirelessly on for ages.

• Read more: Apex dev teases major Banglore storyline for Season 6

The note about gratitude in the analogy is interesting, though, implying that part of the issue with giving the kid the gift is that the child is then “grateful to them instead.” It seems to depart from Casiello’s earlier remarks, in which he emphasized that the problem is simply the ruining of plot twists in elaborate storylines. And no season exemplifies story elaboration quite like this one, which has taken the game’s lore to new ehights.

Casiello’s stance on lore-based spoilers is shared by some in the Apex Legends leaking community too. Popular code-dipper Shrugtal said he had always tried “very hard to keep [his leaks] free of any lore spoilers.”

He also called on those leaking lore spoilers, specifically in the build-up to the huge Broken Ghost character reveal in the storyline’s final quest, to “stop” before Respawn takes further action.

• Read more: Strange Apex Legends glitch makes Revenant’s Ultimate useless

“To those leaking quest spoilers, stop. Respawn is going to let this happen season on season upon season,” he said back on June 28. “They will either break datamining or take legal action through DMCA or C&D. We will all suffer because of it. These actions have consequences.”

https://twitter.com/shrugtal/status/1277061955933687808

Other Apex leakers, like Biast12 and ILootGames, have also made major efforts to keep their lore spoilers under wraps. Biast12, in particular, often takes his Twitter profile into ‘private mode’ whenever he shares story spoilers.

• Read more: Apex Legends teases potential Season 6 map Olympus

Ultimately, Casiello and the Apex Legends writing team seem to care about delivering content to their community.

While it’s understandable that people care about the game and will dive through its files to share hidden details, it’s equally understandable the writers may prefer that those details get revealed at the intended pace. On the plus side, both sides seem pretty passionate about the game.