The video game industry is full of leaks, kind of like a terrible gas station bathroom. Leaks appear in many forms, such as screenshots, videos, or logos. Now, those types of leaks are the most prevalent and well known. It turns out there are several other ways to leak a video game.
The leaks on this list are the funniest and strangest game leaks over the years. All of these leaks had a decent amount of validity to them, which shows that we should be looking at leaks more often. Of course, stay away from them if you want to stay unspoiled.
10 Shadow Of The Tomb Raider Developer Working On Presentation
Shadow of the Tomb Raider leaked several months before its official announcement when a developer on the subway was working on a presentation. The developer had their laptop open and editing a Powerpoint presentation. A passerby noticed the presentation and snapped a photo.
The photo taker posted the image to Reddit, and the media ran with it. This leak was insane, considering it was posted almost two years before the game’s release. Fans of the series knew another Tomb Raider game was in the works, but this leak revealed the name to players.
9 A Witcher 3 Developer’s Google Drive Gets Hacked
A developer behind the hit game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was hacked, and several of the game’s files were distributed online. The highly-anticipated RPG was deep in development when the hack occurred. Details on the ending of the game, monsters, characters, and more were within the files.
CD Projekt Red even released a press release over the leak. The developers advised fans of the series to avoid the files if they do not want spoiled. This leak occurred almost a year before the game’s launch.
8 Walmart Canada Reveals Rage 2 And More
In May of 2018, Walmart Canada published a page of upcoming game releases. Most of the games had been speculated to be in development or had already been announced. However, the leak featured games like Rage 2 that were not announced until later that year at E3.
Bethesda officially announced the game at E3 but had some fun with it. The developers thanked Walmart Canada for its capability of discretion. Gears 5 and Borderlands 3 were among the other games leaked before their official announcement.
7 Mass Effect 3 Beta Leaks Online
Mass Effect 3 leaked when a beta for the game was found on Xbox Live. The beta featured singleplayer and multiplayer gameplay. Players were able to download the 1.8GB beta and get a look at the game. A few lucky players were able to take screenshots and videos of the beta.
Mass Effect 3 did not release until 2012. The leak appeared in 2011, so players had a while to look for the next installment of the Mass Effect series. The beta was not complete, as many things were missing, such as textures.
6 Half-Life 2 Game Leaked Online
Valve is well-known for the Half-Life series. When the first game launched, many craved the sequel. A man named Axel Gembe could not wait like the rest, so he hacked into Valve’s network. He was able to obtain a crude version of Half-Life 2 and downloaded it.
Valve was distraught over the leak, and moral lowered significantly after the game. Gembe felt guilty for the game’s leak and apologized to the developers. Valve then worked closely with the FBI to trick Gembe into applying for a job and then arrested him.
5 Pokémon Let’s Go Leaks On April Fools
The Pokémon Let’s Go games were leaked in on April Fools day, and no one believed the leaker. Historically, game developers have a lot of fun on April Fools. They will release fake announcements and trailers. It is honestly one of the meanest things they can do.
However, a leaker got their hands on several details about Pokémon Let’s Go. The release of the leaks did not make a big splash because of the joke-filled day. It wasn’t until later when the leak was taken seriously.
4 PS4 Slim Sold On Gumtree Before Announcement
A man in Manchester, England, needed a new PS4 when his older console’s HDMI port was damaged. He searched his local classifieds named Gumtree and found a PS4-looking device. The took to Twitter to post images of his newly purchased PS4 Slim.
Later on, a woman obtained a PS4 Slim through Gumtree. She made an unboxing video and even reviewed it before the game was even announced. In the video, she has a disclaimer saying the console has yet to be announced. Fortunately, she loved the console.
3 Assassin’s Creed 3 Art Leaked By Best Buy Employee
A Best Buy employee got excited over the next Assassin’s Creed game and snapped a photo of some internal promotional art. The employee took a snap of the art and sent it to Kotaku. Kotaku reported on the art and revealed the entire piece of art.
The art depicts the protagonist, Conner, wielding a musket, and tomahawk. Speculation before the leak was the game would take place in the American Revolution. This leak seemed to confirm the time period.
2 Halo 4 Multiplayer Gameplay Filmed On Barn TV
In 2012, a strange video appeared online depicting Halo 4 multiplayer. Halo 4 released later that year, but this leak is absolutely insane. The video depicts multiplayer on old RCA television. The video is shaky, and there is extremely loud music in the background.
Furthermore, the shaky video was also shot in a barn, which only adds to the insanity of the leak. Near the bottom of the television, straw or hay can be seen. 343 Industries did release a quote about the video, which only made the leak valid.
1 Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Leaks From A Key Chain
Every Assassin’s Creed game has leaked other than Assassin’s Creed II. Ubisoft should start making these leaks their official announcements. Odyssey was leaked online when a keychain from a French website posted an article about it.
The promotional keychain features a spartan helmet, which all but confirmed the ancient Greek setting. The keychain also featured the name of the next game. Soon afterward, Ubisoft made their official announcement.
NEXT: The 5 Best Outfits In Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (& The 5 Worst)
