“Leaks, Spoilers & Ethics” — The Debate Over Consuming Unreleased Content

Have you ever encountered a leak — whether by accident or by choice? Did it thrill you, derail your day, or reshape your entire experience? Did you chase down every detail, or did you go out of your way to steer clear?

Leaks in entertainment have always been controversial, attracting both willing and unwilling attention — both negative and positive — from all over the internet. Many people still choose to consume leaks, even knowing the potential harm they can cause — but why?

The truth is, leaks can offer benefits not only to consumers but also to developers, creating a complex dynamic between risk and reward. Many developers have even intentionally leaked content to generate buzz, using it as a strategic form of marketing.

While leaks are often overshadowed by ethical concerns and legal implications, they also provide advantages that are rarely acknowledged. Rather than dismissing them outright, this discussion aims to explore their strategic use and broader impact on entertainment.

“Leaks” 101 — How Media Gets “Leaked”

In the entertainment industry, “leaks” are the unauthorized release of confidential or unreleased content. This includes movies, TV shows, music, video games, scripts, and other creative works, before their official release dates. Leaks can happen intentionally or unintentionally and originate from those involved in production, hackers, or others with access to the material.

Security breaches can cause leaks, and the leaks themselves can expose vulnerabilities that lead to future breaches. The initial breach is what allows someone like a hacker to steal said information and spread it. This can lead to more leaks occurring in the future because the initial leak revealed the weakness of that creator’s content protection.

For example, unfinished scenes and an entire episode from Hazbin Hotel season two were leaked on November 4th, 2024.¹ The Italian studio in charge of working on the even-numbered episodes had a data breach. Some details are unknown, but a well-known hacker took advantage of this and posted the leaks to a Telegram group, selling them to the highest bidder.

The leaks had a devastating effect on the show’s production. In response, show creator Vivienne Medrano left “X” (formerly known as Twitter) and moved to “BlueSky.” Never returning to “X” to this day.²

How Spoilers Spread & Impact The Industry

Leaks can undermine a creator’s vision by exposing crucial plot details, like future events or character betrayals. This exposure can derail the narrative and disrupt the creative direction the creator intended to take to entertain their audience. Leaks can also severely impact financial prospects, especially when the media first comes out.

For instance, if a movie is leaked shortly after its release, ticket sales may decline as more people opt to watch the leaked version instead of the official theatrical release.³ A notable example is The Last of Us Part II, which was leaked ahead of its launch and faced massive backlash. This controversy significantly impacted its sales, while the remastered version of the first game saw a surge, selling eight million more copies.⁴

The Benefits Of “Leaks”

In certain cases, leaks can also be beneficial. In particular, a leaked character can allow the creator to learn early on how their consumers feel about said character model. This enables them to make the appropriate changes earlier rather than being blindsided by their criticism after the official release.

Sonic (Fowler, Jeff; 2020)

Although it wasn’t technically a leak, a good example of this is when the first Sonic (2020) trailer dropped.⁵ When Sonic fans saw the initial character design for the character, Sonic, they were furious. They believed the character design did not respect the source material. The backlash was so marred that Paramount Pictures had to change the design and delay the film.

When Paramount Pictures released a new trailer with the new Sonic design, fans were happy. They loved the design and were pleased by the fact that Paramount Pictures listened. In response, the movie became incredibly successful, leading to a domino effect of more successful Sonic films.

The ‘Ugly Sonic’ design later became an inside joke. It had a cameo in Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers⁶ amusing fans.

Uncovering The Power Of Marketing “Leaks” For Brand Growth

Leaks can also be very beneficial in terms of marketing; consumers can provide free promotion of the content they are presenting. This is because the leaks will be spread for free around the internet.⁷ If they reach the right audience, they will drum up positive feedback for the creators without paying for advertisement, allowing them to save more money.

Leaks can also benefit consumers. To give you an idea, it’s common for characters in a gacha game, a type of gambling game, to be leaked. Since gacha games involve gambling with real money, leaks can help players save money for the characters they want.⁸ Another benefit of leaks for consumers is not letting them get their hopes up too high.

For instance, when a consumer’s favorite character is confirmed in the leaks to not be returning, the fan can finally lose interest and move on, saving them a bigger heartbreak. Leaks have also changed products for the better. One beneficial example is the leaked test footage for Miller’s Deadpool (2014).

The overwhelmingly positive fan response helped convince 20th Century Fox to greenlight the film, which later became a massive box-office success. The success of the movie led to some believing that the footage was intentionally leaked to gauge interest.⁹

Why People Seek Out Leaks — The Psychology Behind Spoilers & Curiosity-Driven Fandom

A massive reason why consumers tend to flock towards leaks comes from their natural curiosity about new content. This allows them to learn about future events before other consumers. In addition, they don’t have to deal with FOMO (fear of missing out) because they already know what’s happening next.

With this leaked information they also get to join a figuratively exclusive group consisting of everyone else who accessed the leaks. This creates a sense of superiority from knowing information that the average fan doesn’t have access to. Some consumers seek leaks to confirm their beliefs without going through the content conventionally. They do this to validate their thoughts and prove any theories they came up with, as well as coming up with new ones.

This same logic applies to paying for leaks. Often impatience beats reason and people will pay great sums of money for leaks no matter how small or insignificant they are. A major reason many consumers resort to leaks is that they may not be able to access the source material.

Case in point, Netflix has regional restrictions. The site makes it so that many shows can only be accessed in particular regions. So unless a person moves to said place or gains access to a VPN (virtual private network), they won’t be able to access the shows they want to watch.¹⁰

Another name for this practice is geo-blocking. It is called this because the company in control of the content limits the user to only those allowed in their respective location. Many people live in areas where the governments hold a tight leash on any content they deem “inappropriate,” so leaks are the only way they can access banned content.¹¹

Extremely expensive paywalls can also lead to many consumers opting to find the same content for free. This can be a large problem for many consumers because they do not have the funds to indulge in the content they seek. Thus leading them to use more underhanded means to access the same content.¹²

This can also be very understandable on the content creator’s side. Paywalls allow them to raise funds for the content they create, which may even be their only source of income. Avoiding this paywall could be detrimental to the creator because they would not be able to gather the revenue that may be the only thing keeping them afloat in their lives.

The Nuance Of Leaks — How Spoilers Shape Hype, Fandom & Storytelling

An unspoken rule about leaks is to avoid discussing them with those who are not in the know or unwilling to be. Of course, rule breakers are everywhere, and many people spread leaks without properly tagging or censoring. Causing many to have their experiences soured. Naturally, the question of the ethics of consuming leaks pops up. According to the law, it’s not illegal to view leaks, but it is illegal to obtain them as they count as theft.¹³ But that’s only official law; when it comes to moral law, the answer is muddier.

As long as curiosity exists, leaks will continue to happen. Those who actively seek out and consume leaks only fuel the cycle, ensuring that it persists. If no one cared about leaks, leak culture would fade — but if no one was interested in them, were they ever truly invested in the content to begin with? The truth is, fans are the driving force behind leaks, contributing to both their spread and their consequences. It’s an act of love that, in some cases, does more harm than good.

Now that you know the facts, your stance on leaks may have shifted — perhaps you see them in a more positive light, your opinion has worsened, or you’ve simply reinforced what you already believed. However, your perspective has changed, our goal is not to tell you what to think. Rather, it’s to highlight that the line between the impact of leaks on creators and the reasons fans consume them is far blurrier than it may seem.

Footnotes

1. Damaske, Damion. The Entire Hazbin Hotel Season 2 Leaks Explained. Looper, 2023, 14 November. ↩︎
2. Vivziepop quits twitter due to Hazbin Hotel Season 2 Leaks and Drama. YouTube, uploaded by Ayy Lmao. 7 November. 2024. ↩︎
3. Ma, Liye, L. Montgomery, Alan, Param Vir Singh, and D. Smith, Michael. An Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Piracy on Sales and Creativity. Carnegie Mellon University, Entertainment Analytics, n.d., 2014, September 25. ↩︎
4. Waseem, Abdullah. The Last of Us Part 2 Sold 44% Fewer Copies Than Predecessor. Tech4Gamers, 2023, December 28. ↩︎
5. Bythrow, Nick. Sonic the Hedgehog Franchise Director Reflects on Design Backlash 5 Years Later: ‘Those Opinions Were Heard & Addressed.’ ScreenRant, 2024, December 18. ↩︎
6. Lee, Chris. The Sonic the Hedgehog Controversy and Redesign, Explained. Vulture, 2020, February 13. ↩︎
7. Hodbod, Jakub, and Van Leeuwen, Remy. Exploring Product information leaks in marketing communications and product development. Lund University, 2011. ↩︎
8. Yonezawa, Bruno. All New Genshin Impact 5.3 Leaked Characters. Screen Rant, 2024, November 20. ↩︎
9. Lambie, Ryan. Deadpool | How Two Minutes of Leaked Footage Changed the Marvel Cinematic Universe Forever. Film Stories, 2024 July 30. ↩︎
10. Bixler, Stephanie. Bypass Geo-Restrictions: How VPNs Enable You to Watch Netflix Anywhere. Medium, 2023, October 6. https://medium.com/@stephaniebixler80/bypass-geo-restrictions-how-vpns-enable-you-to-watch-netflix-anywhere-32b00a1a1816 ↩︎
11. Kundrotas, Lukas. How to Bypass Geo-Blocking & Access Restricted Content. Cybernews, 2024 November 29. ↩︎
12. Williams, Kat, and Scott R. Stroud. “The Ethics of News Paywalls.” Center for Media Engagement, 2021 February 15. ↩︎
13. Okewale, Tunde. Law Schooled: Exploring the Impact of Music Leaks in the Industry. GRM Daily, 2024 April 17. ↩︎