A known insider has suggested that YouTube may have begun investigating reports that its employees are behind a large number video game leaks in recent years. An increasing amount of accurate leaks are now coming from random social media accounts and forum posters, and fans have long suspected that some of them are YouTube employees, or associated with them.
Why YouTube employees are suspected to be behind video game leaks
A number of “insiders” tend to share information about games ahead of their trailers going live. One of the most infamous leaks recently was the GTA 6 trailer, which forced Rockstar to share the video earlier than planned. The pattern of the leaks have led many to believe that YouTube employees who are able to access backend systems are the ones leaking information.
According to known insider Tom Henderson, YouTube has carried out at least two investigations over the last 18 months, and a third investigation is expected soon, especially after yesterday’s State of Play leaked ahead of time. Presumably, a YouTube employee accessed the trailers that Sony had planned to set live during the event.
From what I can gather, YouTube has investigated employees breaching their contractual agreements on two different occasions in the past 18 months due to employees accessing content on the backend. Following today (and presumably SGF), we’ll see a third investigation fairly…— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) May 30, 2024
We’re not going to name any names here, but if YouTube is successful in its crackdown, I suspect that quite a few well known leakers will be out of business.