Source types
Official, rumour or alleged leak?
Before a game is released, the difference between these three is the difference between reading a trailer summary and having the plot handed to you. Here is how to tell them apart.
The five source types we distinguish
| Type | What it is | How to recognise it |
|---|---|---|
| Official | Published by the developer or publisher: a trailer, a newsroom post, a dated press release. | Traceable to a first-party site or account. Dated. Named spokesperson or corporate byline. |
| Community | Discussion, analysis and reaction built on top of something else. | Cites a source you can follow. Usually adds opinion rather than new information. |
| Rumour | Claims with no verifiable origin, often attributed to an unnamed insider. | Hedging language — allegedly, reportedly, sources say, supposedly, unconfirmed. |
| Leak-related | Material presented as obtained before release: footage, files, datamines, early copies. | Words like leaked, datamined, early build, street date break or an appeal to secrecy. |
| Unknown | Nothing in the content indicates where the information came from. | Treat as unverified. Absence of a source is not evidence of a good one. |
Why we never merge these
A rumour that gets repeated widely enough starts to read like news. By the fourth retelling the hedging is gone, the original source is a screenshot and it is being discussed as fact. That laundering is exactly how people get spoiled by something that was never true — and how they get spoiled by something that was.
So we keep the source type separate from the risk level and show both. A piece of content can be low risk and completely unverified. It can also be officially published and still ruin something for you: an official trailer is a first-party source and can still show you a scene you would rather have met in the game.
On Official information only, we relax content attributed to a first-party source — but never when it also carries story, ending or character signals. Officially published is not the same as safe.
What we will not do
- We will not tell you whether an alleged leak is genuine.
- We will not point you to leaked material or help you find it.
- We will not describe what a leak contains in order to prove we detected it.
- We will not present rumour as fact anywhere in the product.
Questions
Can you tell me whether a leak is real?
No and be suspicious of anything that claims it can. We classify how content presents itself — whether it is framed as official, as a rumour or as leaked material — and how risky it is to read. Verifying authenticity is a different job and we do not pretend to do it.
Why does the checker treat leaks as high risk before launch?
Because before a game exists publicly, leaked material is where almost all genuine story information lives. On maximum protection, content framed as leaked or datamined is escalated regardless of how mild it looks, since you cannot un-read it.
Do you host or link to leaked material?
No. We do not host, mirror, index or link to it and we do not build databases of it. Our classifier recognises the language of leaks so it can steer you away from them.
See also: how the classifier works.