10 Video Games That Went Extreme To Protect Spoilers
These video games pulled out all the stops to preserve their surprises.
Though most of us love a surprising piece of great storytelling, mileage varies massively on how affected gamers are by spoilers.
To some, prematurely leaked spoilers are merely an inconvenience which doesn't account for how those spoilers are actually executed within the game, while to others they can "ruin" the game and in extreme cases even dissuade them from playing it entirely.
So-called "spoiler culture" is pervasive enough that Sony even filed a patent a few years ago to develop software which blocks screenshots and trophies from players who haven't reached that specific part of a game yet.
Developers of course loathe pre-release spoilers leaking out, as it totally messes with how they want to present the game, often resulting in major plot information being dumped while removed from its full context.
And so, it's little surprise that developers sometimes resort to drastic, even extreme measures to ensure that their most pivotal plot points aren't leaked out ahead of time.
Though in many cases they ended up leaving players, critics, and even their own employees baffled, it was all in a desperate bid to keep the ever-precious spoilers locked down tight...
10. Not Telling Voice Actors What Game They're Working On - Fallout 4
It's extremely common for voice actors and performance capture artists to record their work several years before a game ends up coming out, and often this will require them being called back numerous times to iterate upon their initial performance.
But in the case of Fallout 4, Bethesda were nervous enough about news of the game's hush-hush production leaking out that they hired many prominent actors without even explaining what they were working on.
For instance, actor Keythe Farley ultimately provided the voice for one of the game's major villains, Conrad Kellogg, as well as a few other incidental characters.
Keythe was hired in 2014, the year before the game's release, and in addition to having to sign a non-disclosure agreement, the crew wouldn't tell him which game he was working on or even the actual name of his character.
Keythe recorded several additional sessions prior to Fallout 4's release, and it wasn't until shortly before the game finally hit stores at the end of 2015 that a co-worker figured out what they were working on and told him.
One can understand the secrecy to an extent, but there's a point where it surely risks impacting an actor's performance, no?