Sony Boss Says Industry Has A Confidentiality Problem

[John Funk]

Sony Boss Says Industry Has A Confidentiality Problem

SCEA head Jack Tretton is bummed that the best parts of the Sony E3 keynote were leaked well before the company had a chance to unveil them, and thinks it's part of a larger problem in the videogame industry.

Jack Tretton probably really wanted to formally unveil Trico - now The Last Guardian - at the Sony E3 press conference. Unfortunately, we knew about that one already [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/91822-Possible-TRICO-Footage-Leaks], too. We knew that Sony was working on motion control. We knew a huge chunk of what Sony's presenters were going to say before they even stepped on stage.

Understandably, Tretton is kind of peeved: "Stop f**king leaking our news, you bastards."

Okay, he didn't actually say that. What he did say, though, was that the E3 leaks were endemic of a larger problem in the industry - people just can't seem to keep a secret. "People don't respect confidentiality in this industry," Tretton told CNBC [http://www.cnbc.com/id/31204970/site/14081545]. "It's tough enough to keep a secret within your own company, much less when you speak to third parties."

Annoying for things like the PSP Go, yes - but not crippling. But what about proprietary information like, say, new consoles? Companies rely on keeping their secrets, well, secret in order to eke out a potential lead in the bitter battles of the console war. What would have happened if Sony had learned the specifics of Project Natal two years ago? What would have happened if Microsoft knew exactly what Sony was planning with their own motion control? The omnipresence of leaks in the industry makes it hard to run a seaworthy ship.

"This is an industry that has trouble focusing on today," Tretton elaborated. "We want to constantly talk about tomorrow ... You have to prepare for people to know things in advance. The frustrating thing is they only know a part of the story and that opens up a lot of conjecture and misinformation that ultimately waters down the reality when you roll it out."

He also said that people with no financial stake in the matter should stop telling Sony to lower the price on the PS3 already, but c'mon, who really cares what he has to say? We all know they're going to lower the price. I mean, it came from a leak. It must be true!

(VG247 [http://www.vg247.com/2009/06/12/tretton-people-don%E2%80%99t-respect-confidentiality-in-this-industry/])

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[Keane Ng]

I'd say the world has a confidentiality problem these days. This is how information works now, though, and it's not going to change, whether or not Mr. Tretton wants it to.

"This is an industry that has trouble focusing on today," Tretton elaborated.

I like how he puts that, and I think it's spot-on.

 

[Spinwhiz]

It's not a problem with the industry, it's a problem with people in general. They just can't keep their damn mouths shut almost as if they feel it's their job to let everyone know "secret" information. Sad.

 

[Aura Guardian]

I'd say the world has a confidentiality problem these days. This is how information works now, though, and it's not going to change, whether or not Mr. Tretton wants it to.

"This is an industry that has trouble focusing on today," Tretton elaborated.

I like how he puts that, and I think it's spot-on.

I couldn't agree more.

It's not a problem with the industry, it's a problem with people in general. They just can't keep their damn mouths shut almost as if they feel it's their job to let everyone know "secret" information. Sad.

You build up the hype, people get curious. Plus, it's also Sony's fault. One of the workers could be that jerk who for example gave a sneak peek to a friend and the friend wanted to have that youtube fame.

 

[unacomn]

Industry leaks are getting very troublesome. I simpathise with Sony on this one, because of leaks like this publishers and developers are hesitant to share information with people like me out of fear I will leak it. But I wouldn't. I mean, Valve told me last week they are working on Half Life 3 and will be releasing it next year, and I haven't leaked it to anybody.

No, wait... ooo snap!

 

[Alleged_Alec]

I can't get myself to care about this man's problems, really. It might have something to do with the fact that about half of the cool games coming out this year I want to play are ps3 only. And, since I'm very childish at times and don't possess a playstation 3, I'll blame this man.

But yes, it is a problem. Nobody can keep a secret anymore.

 

[Kinguendo]

"This is an industry that has trouble focusing on today"

I don't think thats true, or they wouldn't have leaked the information... "today".

 

[Spinwhiz]

It's not a problem with the industry, it's a problem with people in general. They just can't keep their damn mouths shut almost as if they feel it's their job to let everyone know "secret" information. Sad.

You build up the hype, people get curious. Plus, it's also Sony's fault. One of the workers could be that jerk who for example gave a sneak peek to a friend and the friend wanted to have that youtube fame.

Yup, couldn't agree more. The spotlight is hard for someone to overcome when it's right out in front of them, especially b/c nobody will do anything about it.

 

[Aura Guardian]

It's not a problem with the industry, it's a problem with people in general. They just can't keep their damn mouths shut almost as if they feel it's their job to let everyone know "secret" information. Sad.

You build up the hype, people get curious. Plus, it's also Sony's fault. One of the workers could be that jerk who for example gave a sneak peek to a friend and the friend wanted to have that youtube fame.

Yup, couldn't agree more. The spotlight is hard for someone to overcome when it's right out in front of them, especially b/c nobody will do anything about it.

You're right. It is quite sad.

 

[Spinwhiz]

It's not a problem with the industry, it's a problem with people in general. They just can't keep their damn mouths shut almost as if they feel it's their job to let everyone know "secret" information. Sad.

People working in the game industry must sign a confidentiality agreement. Even before pitching a concept to a publisher or to a company the people inside the room must sign a confidentiality agreement that what is shown in the room will not be used to the benefit of those it was meant to be pitched at.

This also includes programmers. Trade secrets are important in a company. Say if a programmer that worked on the Geo-Mod 2.0 engine suddenly works in Bethesda, and there is a tough algorithm with which they are experimenting with environmental damage. That programmer knows how to fix the problem, but it is in breach with his confidentiality agreement.

He has two options:

A) Break the agreement so the game goes on as schedualed and meet its milestones so he can get paid to pay the rent.

OR

B) Stick with the agreement to the letter and having the possibility of the game falling behind, or massive amounts of money being pumped into over-time to try and fix the problem when it could've been easily resolved in the first place.

Not only that but confidentiality agreements isn't just to do with "word of mouth", but rather where you work and what position you may work in. Some agreements force you not to work in a certain position/role in the industry for a certain amount of time, and in a certain area.

Meeting all the conditions on the agreement is obviously going to be very difficult for the said programmer when he leaves his place of work.

Such breachings of agreement, in these economic times, is going to be inevitable.

Perhaps, but it's not so much about the agreement being breached for betterment of a product. That happens all the time but the project manager usually knows about that change, setback, etc and changes made by the project manager is still usually covered by the agreement.

Info getting to the mainstream media and then being posted everywhere is a different item altogether. That means someone went outside of direct contacts with the project, which doesn't need to happen. Regardless of what part of a project internal people work on, information given to the public prior to signed authorization in any way, shape or form is just sad. How hard is it NOT to talk to your friends or media about a project you are working on? (not YOU personally, the "royal" you)

 

[maximara]

"This is an industry that has trouble focusing on today," Tretton elaborated. "We want to constantly talk about tomorrow ... You have to prepare for people to know things in advance. The frustrating thing is they only know a part of the story and that opens up a lot of conjecture and misinformation that ultimately waters down the reality when you roll it out."

This sums up the real problem. You need to build hype for your product but you also have to keep most of the details of your produce secret. Then there is the rumor mill which if there is too little information will create nonsense out of whole cloth. This in turn leads to the same conjecture and misinformation issues that result if too much gets out too soon.

A more cynical person might also wonder if in some cases a Mr. Phellps (the original Mission Impossible) is going on.

 

[electric_warrior]

even confidentiality couldn't save sony from sucking

 

[Spinwhiz]

It's not a problem with the industry, it's a problem with people in general. They just can't keep their damn mouths shut almost as if they feel it's their job to let everyone know "secret" information. Sad.

People working in the game industry must sign a confidentiality agreement. Even before pitching a concept to a publisher or to a company the people inside the room must sign a confidentiality agreement that what is shown in the room will not be used to the benefit of those it was meant to be pitched at.

This also includes programmers. Trade secrets are important in a company. Say if a programmer that worked on the Geo-Mod 2.0 engine suddenly works in Bethesda, and there is a tough algorithm with which they are experimenting with environmental damage. That programmer knows how to fix the problem, but it is in breach with his confidentiality agreement.

He has two options:

A) Break the agreement so the game goes on as schedualed and meet its milestones so he can get paid to pay the rent.

OR

B) Stick with the agreement to the letter and having the possibility of the game falling behind, or massive amounts of money being pumped into over-time to try and fix the problem when it could've been easily resolved in the first place.

Not only that but confidentiality agreements isn't just to do with "word of mouth", but rather where you work and what position you may work in. Some agreements force you not to work in a certain position/role in the industry for a certain amount of time, and in a certain area.

Meeting all the conditions on the agreement is obviously going to be very difficult for the said programmer when he leaves his place of work.

Such breachings of agreement, in these economic times, is going to be inevitable.

Perhaps, but it's not so much about the agreement being breached for betterment of a product. That happens all the time but the project manager usually knows about that change, setback, etc and changes made by the project manager is still usually covered by the agreement.

Info getting to the mainstream media and then being posted everywhere is a different item altogether. That means someone went outside of direct contacts with the project, which doesn't need to happen. Regardless of what part of a project internal people work on, information given to the public prior to signed authorization in any way, shape or form is just sad. How hard is it NOT to talk to your friends or media about a project you are working on? (not YOU personally, the "royal" you)

Totally agree with you. Remember that slip up with one of the voice actors' comment on Twitter for lending his voice on Fable III? That was a major mess up.

Oopsie! At least that is more of a brain fart...yet still a moronic move which puts them in a bad position. What is worse is when people from inside Sony, not just some voice over talent, leaks info. They TOTALLY know what they are doing when they leak info, so it's a blatant slap in the face and a middle finger that they don't give a shit about the company they work for. I hope they find those people and take their jobs away for being idiots.

 

[edgeofblade]

I have no sympathy. I'd rather get my news as a drip fed string of rumors that's eventually confirmed. That way, I know exactly how I feel about any given development.

Call it the free market of PR.

 

[edgeofblade]

The thing is, NDA agreements are one half of the cure here. But an NDA gets to be useless when you can't pinpoint the leak. What needs to be done is a show of force from one of the bigger companies, where if their product is leaked, the entire project is scrapped and the team fired. Yes, you may get a Duke Nukem Forever problem developing, but this is happening because developers don't see consequences. Two or three of these mass-firings and cancellations, and the problem WILL disappear.

If you CAN ID the specific person who leaked the project, then just publicly/financially crucify him. If you made it possible through the original hiring contract, make them financially responsible for the difference between projected sales and actual sales (if info leaked), or responsible for the full purchase price of every confirmed pirated copy (if software leaked).

Great... that's what I'd call the Gestapo approach. It fixes problems with an iron resolve while exacerbating other classic problems, like mistrust of management or poor public image.

But if Grand Moff Tarkin here wants to blow up a few planets with some "mass firings", be my guest. It's your game co.s funeral.