Game News God of War Ragnarok controversy: Insiders have changed our relationship to video game announcements!
Published on 04/07/2022 at 19:01
It was last week’s soap opera! Several insiders were planning, on June 30, to speak regarding the release date of God of War Ragnarok. And finally, it was motus and mouth sewn at PlayStation. Obviously, the Japanese firm would have changed its mind at the last moment. What to wonder regarding these sources today essential in the news JV.
Their names are Tom Henderson, The Snitch, Jeff Grubb, Jason Schreier, and in the world of video games, they know everything before anyone else! “Insiders” – as we call them. They are sometimes former journalists with a big address book in their pocket who have become independent. Others work under a pseudonym and have – obviously – contacts that don’t know what to do with them. For a long time, video game news has been advancing to the rhythm of the daily scoops, whether on a still unknown project, upcoming announcements of an important speech (Nintendo, Xbox and PlayStation) or even a release date. From time to time, these scoops are correct, granting considerable legitimacy to their author. Often they are wrong.
adverse effects
Fake, like the announcement of the release date of God of War Ragnarokpredicted for June 30 by The Snitch and one of its puzzles weird. An account that was right for the State of Play games in May and the arrival of Hollow Knight Silksong in the Xbox Game Pass. However, last Thursday, no Kratos on the horizon. False information? Rather a missed act according to Jason Schreier, an insider of course, but above all a very reputable journalist in the industry. “As for the God of War Ragnarok rumors, there was indeed an announcement of the June 30th release date according to people familiar with the matter. Recent tweets from Cory Barlog (producer of the game – director of the opus of 2018, editor’s note) imply that it has been postponed” écrithe on Twitter. In the video game industry, these last minute changes are commonplace. Still according to Schreier, Ragnarok would be scheduled for November 2022.
Yes, to err is human, and so is – unfortunately – toxic behavior. While the prediction of The Snitch falls into the water, Internet users attacked the developers of Santa Monica, the studio which develops God of War Ragnarok for PlayStation. Estelle Tigani, a cinematic producer on the project, affirms including having received “penis photos” as a request for a release date. Behavior very quickly condemned by team members and Cory Barlog, with support from Xbox boss Phil Spencer himself. In a communiqué posted on July 1 on Twitter, Santa Monica calls for calm and respect. “We understand the passion, the desire to have new information. But this passion should not be toxic, nor should it be expressed to the detriment of anyone’s dignity”.
believe blindly
On the web, some are angry with the insiders themselves. “If (The Snitch and Jason Schreier, editor’s note) had not indicated the date of June 30, no one would have built unrealistic expectations” s’unworthy for example a user on Twitter. The case of God of War Ragnarok marks almost a breaking point between knowledgeable accounts and their followers. The game is so eagerly awaited, and its release date arguably so imminent, that misinformation on the subject feels like betrayal, especially when corroborated by often well-informed personalities.
“I only have one thing to say: don’t trust anyone on the internet, even if (the person in question, editor’s note) has already been right in the past”. It is not us who say it but the author of the AccountNGT account, in a message posted recently. A netizen known to have talked regarding the project Star Wars Eclipse of Quantic Dream well before its announcement as well as the return of the Sly Cooper and inFamous licenses. Except that the second indiscretion has been denied, moreover by the Sucker Punch studio itself, at the origin of these two franchises. In the case of Sly Cooper, AccountNGT explains that a reliable source tells him that something is brewing despite everything.
From left to right: Sly Cooper, inFamous / Bottom: Star Wars Eclipse
Stuffing and catches
So what, Sucker Punch would be willing to lie? After all why not. Video game studios have already used this kind of strategy to keep a secret. We remember for example the trailer of The Last of Us Part II, cheerfully manipulated by Naughty Dog to make believe in the return of a known hero. As you can imagine, in an environment where leaks happen every other day, developers are doubling their vigilance. Stop creating fake content to deceive the curious. It is in particular the little game to which two creators ofApex Legendswhen developing Season 8. They evoke their story in an article on Inverse:
“Sometimes we have fun with (the community, editor’s note). We see data mining going on, so we build fake characters like Forge and try to fool the miners (…) Often what happens is that we have old stuff that was in the game at some point and that we put aside. We just say to ourselves: ‘Never mind, we leave it’ and some people draw conclusions from old things” – C. Grenier and S. Ferriera (Apex Legends)
And believe us, it’s not just developers who have imagination. A few months ago, Jon Cartwright, a video game content creator on the net, embarked on a unique experience: becoming an ultra-gifted but without any information ! His technique? Invent an account from scratch (@WaddleDeeKnows), initially stay private so that no one sees his messages, and post a bunch of predictions before the Nintendo Direct at the start of the year. All he had to do was delete the incorrect messages following the broadcast and that was it. Seven hours later, almost two thousand subscribers added him, Jon even seeing himself cité by the VGC site which lends him a “privileged knowledge of Nintendo’s plans”. “I blame no one for having believed (my messages, editor’s note)” Explain Cartwright at Arts Technica. I think we’ve been conditioned to believe them because, every month/week, people do this stuff.”
