Nintendo Tightens Security Amidst Leak Drama

Nintendo is beefing up its security and IT training after recent reports of major announcements being leaked online. The recognition of efforts to limit the disclosure of inside information by third parties comes as the leak scene emerges in the video game industry.

What’s Behind the Leaks?

During Thursday’s annual shareholder meeting, Nintendo was asked about the recent reports regarding data security issues at Google. According to the statements, reported incidents included references to an employee gaining access to a trailer from the YouTube backend before the game was officially announced for Switch. Separate reports noted other incidents, and confirmed that many of the big gaming-related leaks come from data uploaded early to YouTube’s backend that was accessed by contractors.

Nintendo takes action against leaks

A New Era of Security

Nintendo acknowledged the reports and said the company is using third-party security firms, new security system procedures, and employee training to address issues related to the leaks. The Switch manufacturer doesn’t appear to have gone into detail about how it plugged the leaks, but fans have been speculating about the steps Nintendo is taking since the recent collapse of online game leaks last week.

The Leaker’s Dilemma

Screenshot: Twitter/Kotaku Online user Pyoro was one of the last remaining leakers who seemed to at least sometimes have solid sources of information, but they came up surprisingly dry ahead of June’s big Nintendo Direct event. Contradictory news dump Pyro’s mysterious predictions early on, he seemed to present them as being out of information. According to what was reported at the time, fans quickly realized that unlike previous Nintendo Directs, many of the announced games did not have their store pages immediately published on the eShop, suggesting that back-end data from those listings may have been part of how Pyoro acquired his information.

Pyoro’s mysterious predictions

The Future of Leaks

Store pages for games announced last week have only recently started appearing, including one revealing an unexpected $60 bonus Donkey Kong Country Returns in high quality. This is likely one of the steps Nintendo is taking to eliminate leaks, along with potentially changing how it interacts with video hosting services like YouTube. We will have a better idea of how these strategies work when and if we find out about upcoming announcements in the future, including potential Switch 2 launch games.

Donkey Kong Country Returns in high quality

The Leak Scene Remains a Mess

Meanwhile, the video game leak scene remains a mess. It was recently revealed that Midori, another mysterious leaker, is a known male personality fan pretending to be a mysterious Japanese woman. Until a new champion emerges, hardcore fans will just have to wait for the final press releases like everyone else.

The video game leak scene remains a mess