activision-blizzardLet’s face it, we’re sure that most companies do not enjoy it when their products are leaked ahead of schedule. Why? Well for starters, the images or videos seen might be that of a prototype or an earlier build, which is definitely not representative of the final product. It could also be that the company could have spent a lot of time crafting a marketing strategy and unveiling that would have been all for naught, thanks to the leak.

However when it comes to leaks, it seems that Activision might have a completely different outlook on it. While this isn’t to say that they welcome leaks or purposely try to leak products, the way they handle it is quite interesting. Speaking to the folks at Polygon, Activision Publishing’s CEO, Eric Hirshberg revealed how the company handles its leaks, and how they dealt with the most recent one which revealed the Call of Duty trailer ahead of its official announcement.

According to Hirshberg, “The answer usually is don’t try to push against it, don’t try to go out to the wild and try to put these fires out and just pour gasoline on them.” He also adds, “Sometimes the fact that it’s a leak can actually intensify that sharing because people feel like they’re getting something illicit. But it’s never something we plan or aim for. We try to make the best of it when it happens.”

He also suggested that companies should be happy about fans talking about leaks since it’s a sign of enthusiasm. As we have seen multiple times in the past, there are occasions when a company has requested for websites and links to be removed. Some have even been met with threatening legal letters.

“Whenever you get into a situation where the company goes all silverback gorilla on its fans and tries to get them to take down links and take things off people’s YouTube pages … it doesn’t make any sense. If people are enthusiastic about your product, help them,” says Hirshberg. What do you guys think?

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