10 Insane Ways Video Games Were Kept Under Wraps

One of the most reliable ways for games to get leaked is for players to datamine demos for references to story and gameplay, or in the case of a live-service game, datamine the existing game code for hints at future content drops.

But given the prevalence of datamining-related leaks in recent years, developers Respawn Entertainment got one step ahead of fans with Apex Legends, by deliberately including fake information in the game data.

Early last year, dataminers noted the existence of an apparently new character in the game code called Forge, but both the character information and concept art included in a game update was deliberately planted there as a misdirect by Respawn. Design director Jason McCord said:

"Honestly, it started as a fun way to misdirect data miners who, at the time, felt like they had solved our next legend and had ruined our surprise...We actually purposefully leaked fake concept art and details of Forge's kit in patches, so there would be a breadcrumb trail by the time we announced him. It's pretty insane, really. I can't think of any other game that has gone through such hijinks."

But Respawn weren't satisfied yet. They completed their trolling of dataminers in mesmerising fashion by releasing an apparent introductory video for Forge, which promptly ended with him being stabbed to death by Revenant, the real new legend introduced to the game.

Above all else, it taught everyone a lesson, not to believe everything they see. And like that, Apex's secrecy was safeguarded once more.