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Addressing Kingdom Hearts III leaks: KH13's spoiler policy


Overshot_

Today on December 15, 2018, leaks surfaced from an illegal retail copy of Kingdom Hearts III. Video and screenshots of said retail copy have been posted online.

We found evidence that revealed that one man stole one or more copies (reportedly, at least 30) of the English version of Kingdom Hearts III for Xbox One. The man seems to have obtained the copies using connections he has with an employee of a company in charge of printing/packaging Kingdom Hearts III for Xbox One. He has since tried to sell his copies, uploading some very short game footage to prove the copies were legitimate. The seller claimed he has sold over ten copies.

Due to ethical and copyright issues, we will not report on any Kingdom Hearts III content coming from unofficial sources such as these leaked and illegally sold copies. We will not post any pictures, audio, video, or information that fit this criterion.

We will not share the name or location of the perpetrator, whom we have reported to Square Enix. We will not share information about the buyers or social media accounts posting leaks on our articles. You can, however, find tips and advice on avoiding spoilers on the #how-to-avoid-spoilers on our Discord server, including accounts you can mute/block/avoid.

UPDATE: Tetsuya Nomura has released a statement about the leak. You can read the statement here.

We have created a Kingdom Hearts III Spoilers subforum where fans can discuss these leaks without spoiling the game for others.

 

KH13.com's spoiler policy on Kingdom Hearts III allows discussion on publicly announced content (eg. trailers, interviews, promotional pictures, etc.); however, leaks are to be discussed in the Spoilers subforum only. Avatars, statuses, and thread titles must not contain spoilers. We may be revising our Kingdom Hearts III spoiler policy in the future, according to future content releases by Square Enix and Disney.

KH13.com’s Discord is to be absolutely spoiler-free. No discussion on the leaks is allowed, and any post suspected to be spreading these leaks will be removed at once.

We would also like to say to fans to please be extra careful on social media, especially comment sections. Thumbnails, titles, autoplay, recommended videos, and comments on Youtube can be especially dangerous for those that are trying to avoid spoilers.

We will be monitoring KH13.com and its Discord extensively to prevent and stop the spread of leaks.

We hope that fans understand our policy and respect the work done so far by the game's developing team by not trying to access the leaks nor divulging them where they aren't warranted.

 

Thank you for your cooperation.

Stay safe!

To visit the Kingdom Hearts III spoiler subforum, click here.



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So um, is it like illegal to even have the footage? Because I tracked somebody down on Discord from a few comments on youtube and actually asked them to see the leaks, to see if they were real, and they showed me a few clips. Two of them were from the opening, in english. They said they got them from someone else, but that means they still possess copies of the videos themselves. Should I report them to Discord for it? Or to you guys? How do I do that?

Edited by Vessynessy20

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30 minutes ago, Vessynessy20 said:

So um, is it like illegal to even have the footage? Because I tracked somebody down on Discord from a few comments on youtube and actually asked them to see the leaks, to see if they were real, and they showed me a few clips. Two of them were from the opening, in english. They said they got them from someone else, but that means they still possess copies of the videos themselves. Should I report them to Discord for it? Or to you guys? How do I do that?

Maybe give them a warning or something.

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1 hour ago, Vessynessy20 said:

So um, is it like illegal to even have the footage? Because I tracked somebody down on Discord from a few comments on youtube and actually asked them to see the leaks, to see if they were real, and they showed me a few clips. Two of them were from the opening, in english. They said they got them from someone else, but that means they still possess copies of the videos themselves. Should I report them to Discord for it? Or to you guys? How do I do that?

It is not illegal to have or post the footage. The only illegal thing that has happened is one guy stealing games. You shouldn't report anyone.

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1 hour ago, Vessynessy20 said:

So um, is it like illegal to even have the footage? Because I tracked somebody down on Discord from a few comments on youtube and actually asked them to see the leaks, to see if they were real, and they showed me a few clips. Two of them were from the opening, in english. They said they got them from someone else, but that means they still possess copies of the videos themselves. Should I report them to Discord for it? Or to you guys? How do I do that?

I would imagine it's not illegal to possess the footage itself. I guess that would be a similar gray zone as to how it's not illegal to rip videos off of Youtube. It's probably not exactly recommendable/wanted either but you won't get in trouble for downloading them.

It might be a different matter if they actually bought an illegally obtained copy or would post the content for everyone to see but if you asked them and they shared it with you privately, it shouldn't be a problem.

I'm no lawyer but that's how it's handled here. There are a lot of gray zones in law and quite frankly, it'll be hard to persecute people for owning footage of this type since the content itself is not illegal.

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45 minutes ago, Keyblader number one said:

Us there spoilers on YouTube? 

There are, unfortunately. But not on our own Youtube channel (but beware recommended videos and comment sections...)

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17 minutes ago, RikuFangirl2008 said:

Can we report them from spoiling the game early?  

I mean only if they're not posting it in the spoilers area I guess? A mod will come along and confirm this probably.

 

Tbh what's really ticking me off here is that someone actually had the audacity to steal 30 copies and they're getting away with it. That's not on at all, and of course, the leaks are also unfortunate but we should probably stick to the bigger picture here. This guy shouldn't be given any exposure at all imo, then everything will have been in vain for him

   

Quote

There are, unfortunately. But not on our own Youtube channel (but beware recommended videos and comment sections...) 

 I have a great solution to that, give a kid your phone/device for approximately 30 minutes and your recommendeds will be filled to the brim with kinder and playdoh videos, can't go wrong.

Edited by 2 quid is good
Double post accidentally, I was on mobile x.x

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15 minutes ago, Aquaberry said:

There are, unfortunately. But not on our own Youtube channel (but beware recommended videos and comment sections...)

Lucky for me, I got video blocker on my laptop.  Is there a way to get rid of it on YouTube App?

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13 minutes ago, Keyblader number one said:

Lucky for me, I got video blocker on my laptop.  Is there a way to get rid of it on YouTube App?

Im not sure, but have you tried the Newpipe app? If you find any apps let me know for sure. I'll look for some too!

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1 hour ago, 2 quid is good said:

I mean only if they're not posting it in the spoilers area I guess? A mod will come along and confirm this probably.

 

Tbh what's really ticking me off here is that someone actually had the audacity to steal 30 copies and they're getting away with it. That's not on at all, and of course, the leaks are also unfortunate but we should probably stick to the bigger picture here. This guy shouldn't be given any exposure at all imo, then everything will have been in vain for him

   

 I have a great solution to that, give a kid your phone/device for approximately 30 minutes and your recommendeds will be filled to the brim with kinder and playdoh videos, can't go wrong.

2

I had my fair share of peeve fits this morning during and after breakfast. Yeah, he did and selling them for 100 dollars on that Facebook Market. I got a picture of his name on my phone. Even the page that contains info on the game. 

Well, I don't have any kids and I wouldn't let anyone, but my dad and mom to touch my phone. I'll watch as many Chowder, Winx Club, and other things that could brim my Recommended Page more. 

Edited by RikuFangirl2008

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I assume him stealing them technically counts as theft. I don't know if this technically counts as piracy or not. I don't know if Square Enix being a foreign company has anything to contribute to it or not. One things for sure, you could definitely count on him losing his job after all this if they catch him, or at the very least, he'll be fined too. Depending on how high the monetary value is for the number of games he sold, he could end up getting jail time, higher fines, and community service time or even all of the above. Also, this incident will make it him look bad with future employers making it harder for him to get a new job. Disney can even choose to sue him if they want to. He lives in U.S., so I guess all of this could potentially apply to him. To add insult to injury, I heard the guy doesn't even care about the game itself and only wants to sell them because he thinks he can profit off of it. 

Edit: Assuming that all the copies are around their usual price in U.S. dollars and he sold 30 copies and possibly might have more, take $60 x 30, that's at least $1,800. Yep. He's definitely getting saddled with more than just a measly fine. This could be considered grand theft. Of course I'm not sure what laws there are on theft in the state he lives in. Some states categorize theft into misdemeanor and felony rather than petty theft and grand theft. I presume the punishments are similar though. 10 copies of the game have been sent out already. Don't know if they plan on tracking them down or not, but I'm sure it will be pretty hard to catch all of them.

Edited by ITzDarthLordRevan

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Wow, so sad this happened. 

We've waited for so long and now some idiotic guy tries to spoil all the fun.

 

May you be arrested and pay for your sins with your life

 

Why don't they reschedule the release date for somewhere around dec 30? It'd be a good way to counter this, I think

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1 hour ago, Lu Xun said:

Wow, so sad this happened. 

We've waited for so long and now some idiotic guy tries to spoil all the fun.

 

May you be arrested and pay for your sins with your life

 

Why don't they reschedule the release date for somewhere around dec 30? It'd be a good way to counter this, I think

Unfortunately, this is the type of person who doesn't care how this situation affects people. Only the possibility that he could make a quick buck interests him.

I believe they wanted to get both the Japanese and English versions as close in release dates as they possibly could, so I don't know if they would even think of doing that at this point. The only thing anyone can do now is retrieve the copies as best as they can and punish the the seller for his crimes. Disney will surely take down as many spoilers as they can, but the damage has already been done. Hopefully, at some point, the spoilers will probably die down a little to the point you won't be able to find the leaks unless you actively search for them. Poor SkywardWing already got a lot spoiled for him. Just be careful around the internet for now. It's times like these when I'm glad I don't have a Twitter account.

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18 minutes ago, ITzDarthLordRevan said:

Unfortunately, this is the type of person who doesn't care how this situation affects people. Only the possibility that he could make a quick buck interests him.

I believe they wanted to get both the Japanese and English versions as close in release dates as they possibly could, so I don't know if they would even think of doing that at this point. The only thing anyone can do now is retrieve the copies as best as they can and punish the the seller for his crimes. Disney will surely take down as many spoilers as they can, but the damage has already been done. Hopefully, at some point, the spoilers will probably die down a little to the point you won't be able to find the leaks unless you actively search for them. Poor SkywardWing already got a lot spoiled for him. Just be careful around the internet for now. It's times like these when I'm glad I don't have a Twitter account.

True...

Do you think we will know more about how thia unfolds later on? Like if the guy got caught and some pronouncement from Square or something like that? 

 

And yeah, I'm totally not searching for those damn spoilers... Just gonna keep playing some games and watching Netflix during vacation

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1 hour ago, Lu Xun said:

Why don't they reschedule the release date for somewhere around dec 30? It'd be a good way to counter this, I think

I'm not sure this would be the right reaction toward leaks. Yes, they would likely prevent too much damage but at the same time, they would cater to some person's crime. Of course no one demanded an earlier release date with some sort of threat but if one company, or in this case 2, bends to the actions of a single individual, it might become problematic in the future.

Of course we want the game more than ever now and as early as possible with these leaks, but I wouldn't like SE or Disney to adjust their plans because someone procured a copy through allegedly illegal means. If they did that, what would prevent others from doing the same and demanding an earlier release, etc.?

The damage is more or less done. I think people can do a lot by not pursuing that any further if they wish to remain unspoiled. I read KH13's Discord thread about how to avoid spoilers and they're currently collecting loads of solid advice for all manner of websites and devices while also collecting names, etc. of people who spread leaks. I think it's worth a look and helps avoiding spoilers since there are things we can do ourselves.

6 weeks are long, no questions asked, and I can't deny that I also wished for a moment they would rease it earlier so we wouldn't be so anxious for such a long time. But something in me would be apalled if SE/Disney had to react to such a terrible occurrence by putting the game out earlier. Leaks are one thing but they do not need to set a precedence for strange actions.

Which is not to say that I don't want them to take legal action against the person as far as that is possible. And they shouldn't let other fans suffer because a few people are disrespectful like Nintendo once did for Europe even though the fans did nothing to warrant that. But I'm just not sure if adjusting the release date is the best reaction.

I'm also not certain they can even manage it. I have no idea if they could release it everywhere they planned to on such short notice.

Of course it must already be stored in some way or he wouldn't have been able to acquire it but that doesn't mean they have enough to keep up with demand and that it would reach more remote locations in time. I don't know how it's shipped, how much is done and how long it'll take though since I know very little about shopping procedures for games in other countries in particular.

Not to mention they would need to change their schedule for promotion. The complete version of Face my Fears was supposed to release next month and fewer people would buy it if the full version is already to be heard in the game. There're lots of other things to consider as well.

 

However, I would still like to express my gratitude to the moderators trying really hard to keep us safe from unwanted information and helping us to protect ourselves as well. Ironically, I feel less threatened to come across spoilers on KH-related websites because people here are very keen on keeping spoilers and leaks where they belong, even if they are endangered to face them themselves instead. I'm not particularly worried to read too much unwanted information here. Youtube and Tumblr are more problematic due to the sheer amount of information.

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Thank you for addressing this to us, Overshot!

Man, it really irks me and disappoints me that there are just people that can't wait and are so impatient to the point that they will get the game by any means necessary before the rest of the world and will be willing to spoil everything! That's highly disrespectful to the KH community, and even more so to the creators themselves! Nomura, Hashimoto, Yasue and everyone on Disney and Square that have worked so hard on this game, only to have this happen, must feel appalled! It's these kinds of things that make the fanbase look bad, ya know? It's just nuts!

Here's hoping that Disney and Square double down on security measures to ensure their game remains under lock and key until release! Cuz I've waited twelve years, so six more weeks is nothing, though to some people, I guess it's unbearable! Come on, guys! Is it that hard to wait when the new year is practically around the corner?

I am dangerously good at avoiding spoilers, so I know I won't stumble upon any. I pray everyone else has that same luck!

Edited by The Transcendent Key

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1 minute ago, Lu Xun said:

True...

Do you think we will know more about how thia unfolds later on? Like if the guy got caught and some pronouncement from Square or something like that? 

 

And yeah, I'm totally not searching for those damn spoilers... Just gonna keep playing some games and watching Netflix during vacation

I hope so. I would at least like to know what happens to him. There's only 45 days left. If we can wait 5 years, then this is a meager amount of time to wait in comparison. We can do this.

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I mostly stay on this site and watch KH news videos on youtube, so I don't really go on anything like Reddit and 4Chan which seems to be the websites to avoid. I'll probably be careful around the comments section of youtube, but I think I'll be OK if I don't go looking for them. From what I understand nothing too bad has been leaked so far.

But as a reminder, if you here some odd "spoilers" they might not be true cause we this stuff happens people like to make stuff up. So if you see a "spoiler" that makes you upset just remember it might not be true.  

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I mean the guy will probably be tracked down for theft. I hope that the spoiler videos don't show up for anyone.

I kinda secretly want to listen the the whole song of Face my Fears..... Just the song though, but won't search for it, cause once you get one thing on YouTube, many more recommended will show up ._.

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