In the internet era, it’s becoming harder and harder to avoid spoilers for just about any form of media. Video games are proving to be no exception to the rule, but that hasn’t stopped publishers from trying! Last year, Nintendo made a concerted effort to track down the Pokemon Sword and Shield leakers, and now Activision is making a similar attempt with a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare leaker. The publisher has delivered a signed subpoena to Reddit for the personal information of poster Assyrian2410, after the now-banned poster uploaded a leaked image from an unannounced mode. It’s likely Assyrian2410 received the image from someone else, and Activision is trying to track the original source.
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The spoiler in question is Modern Warfare‘s long-demanded battle royale Warzone mode. Nearly every social media update for the game results in a number of players asking for the mode, and that’s grown into a chorus of voices since the leak.
The subpoena was filed by Activision on February 14th, and it gives Reddit until the 28th to provide the user’s associated info. It will be interesting to see how much Activision is able to glean from the information, as Reddit does not require personal information when signing up for an account. Assyrian2410’s information might not leave the publisher with much to go on.
New tweet, no warzone.— Benja Ellis (@benjaellis_h) February 18, 2020
At the end of the day, the revelation of the upcoming battle royale mode likely does more help than harm for the company. Given the high demand for the mode, the spoiler could actually help drive sales and keep players following each of the game’s new content drops. That said, Activision’s legal strategy might have more to do with intimidating other potential leakers in the future. By going after the leakers on the battle royale reveal, Activision could intimidate other potential leakers for bigger announcements, particularly those that are story-related.
It will be interesting to see how this story plays out in the coming days. On one hand, stopping spoilers such as these will make genuine surprises more common in the video game industry. That will be a good thing for fans that prefer to be surprised, but there could be some blowback from the fans that are clearly hungry for information. If Assyrian2410 is just an excited fan that got the leak from a bigger source, it’s hard to say whether or not the publisher’s actions are justified.
Are you excited about Modern Warfare‘s upcoming battle royale mode? What do you think about Activision’s subpoena? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!
