On Nov.15, “Pokémon Sword” and “Pokémon Shield,” two Nintendo Switch video games, are set to release worldwide.
Ever since Halloween, a group of people on many social media networks (primarily Twitter and Discord) posted content about the upcoming Sword and Shield games.
Posted content included story spoilers, new Pokémon, the final forms of the three starter Pokémon and how many (and which species) of the Pokémon from previous generations made it into the new games. Reactions to these leaks ranged anywhere from gratitude to angry retaliation. In regards to the latter, even the Nintendo social media accounts retaliated by erasing the accounts of everyone responsible for the leaks.
While the leakers were around, many noticed a multitude of reactions. It’s only natural that people have different opinions on spoilers.
This has happened too many times to count with popular games before. Last year, “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” and “Kingdom Hearts III” were the biggest victims of spoilers. Fandom reaction of both gratitude and anger was exactly the same last year for those games.
Bearing in mind everything that comes about from leaks (reaction from excited fans seeing them whether they wanted to or not, retaliation from officials, etc.), there ought to be some etiquette implemented for times when an anticipated game is close to launch day.
There is no problem with spoilers or leaks; however, one who does not always actively seek them out may still accidentally come across them.
That’s why there should be obvious warnings for content that is leaked, as to not ruin others’ expectations of the game before the release date.
On the other hand, at times, fan reaction can be blown out of proportion. Regardless of the spoilers, it does not take away from the enjoyment of actually playing the game when it is released.
For the crowd who prefers to have a fresh experience with a new game, there are ways to avoid getting spoiled by the mannerless leakers. Twitter allows its users to mute certain words to avoid related tweets in one’s timeline.
Should that fail, there’s no shame in taking a break from social media hangouts until the hype has died down, or until you finish the game yourself and can, therefore, no longer be spoiled. Social media breaks do wonders in general, but that’s especially true in times of new-game hype. This goes for the Discord crowd, too.
The new Pokémon games are only the latest victims of leak culture. This is going to happen again to next year’s big game. So, to the leakers: Keep your spoilers to yourself. To people who don’t mind them: Don’t ruin it for people who want a fresh experience. And finally, to people who want to avoid spoilers and leaks: Stay safe. And to all of you: Enjoy your game!