Why/How are major Hardware, software or game releases news leaked? New marketing gimmick for attention?

[Futureized]

As the topic question says?

There are many leaked news since long time for almost anything In I. T. are these gigantic companies unable to keep there data secret..

Or its just a marketing gimmick to catch attention.

Even if it is, does this kind of leaked news gets more attention?

 

[kalph09]

It's mostly intentional to generate interest, pump the stock, get free marketing, build anticipation, etc.

 

[rsaeon]

It's usually a delicate balance between generating interest and not revealing too much until you're able to actually monetize the interest (entice customers to give you money).

But with larger companies with many people working on the same product and outsourcing different aspects of manufacturing, it's not easy for them to maintain this balance.

The recent GTA6 leaks is an example of how it can quickly get out of control and undo months/years of planning and preparation. Apparently there was a company-wide event for everyone to watch the trailer at launch (presumably with catering and an afterparty) and they (presumably) even paid an enormous amount of money for a vanity url with youtube but all of that was abandoned with the early leak.

Hardware leaks are easier to get under control — most prototypes have (intentionally added) telling features at different stages of manufacturing so that it becomes easily to track who/where.

In the past, I had been immensely disappointed by leaks and rumors and so I avoid them completely, I like to be surprised when things are announced.

 

[kiran6680]

I agree with the commenters who provided their insights. I just want to add that it is also the fanbase / consumers / future consumers who are extremely eager to believe that the next version of their toy is going to be magically much much better than ever before. Even though they have seen that drastic improvement in a single release, at least in hardware, is a once in a lifetime experience, people can't stop themselves from believing the dreams peddled by the leakers.

 

[dvader]

Yup as @rsaeon mentioned it's not always malice mostly it's just sheer stupidity at some phase of the entire product development cycle. For Rockstar it was detrimental. And in this day and age companies try not to do that cuz even if it gathers initial publicity, the negativity that will follow after it comes out is not worth the effort.

Now there are a few scenarios that can not be categorized as leaks for e.g someone figuring out new CPUs/GPUs via new CPU/GPU codes in benchmarks and BIOS releases etc is just the cost of doing business and companies have an expectation that people will figure it out.