The latest Borderlands 3 leaks prompted 2K Games and its parent company Take-Two to act in unexpected ways. Allegedly, two private investigators went to YouTuber SupMatto’s house, introducing themselves as being from Take-Two Interactive and questioning him about his YouTube account and activities. These actions led to the hashtag #BoycottBorderlands3 to trend on Twitter.
“On July 25, private investigators showed up to my home, trespassed on my private property and questioned me,” SupMatto said. “They questioned me about various things relating to my channel, the livestream that was discussed on my channel […] and they told me they were from Take-Two Interactive.”
ALSO: Final Borderlands 3 Vault Hunter is FL4K the Beastmaster, an ’emergent AI’ with pet companions
According to SupMatto, he spoke to the private investigators for 30 or 40 minutes. He claimed in the video that he didn’t do some crafty workaround to report on the official Borderlands 3 Twitch extension, which allows players to earn gear and loot just by watching streamers playing the game.
“On April 29, the official Borderlands YouTube channel posted the reveal of the Twitch extension leading into the gameplay reveal […] and the name of the testing accounts were exposed in that video. This wasn’t found by me,” he explained.
SupMatto said that he and others decided to follow the testing accounts that were exposed “because, well, simply put, we could.” SupMatto also mentioned that his YouTube channel received seven copyright strikes the day after the visit from private investigator, with most of them vanishing for no apparent reason. The only copyright strike that remains is from 2K CMS and is set to expire at the end of October. YouTube’s system generally terminates a channel when it gets four strikes in three months, something that SupMatto was expecting to happen.
SupMatto’s Discord channel was terminated about 20 minutes after the private investigators left, allegedly for being “involved in selling, promoting, or distributing cheats, hacks, or cracked accounts.”
IGN had the confirmation that this move involving private investigators happened in the wake of an extensive 10-month investigation started by 2K and Take-Two to put and end to the Borderlands 3 leaks. This much was confirmed by a 2K Games representative.
“Take Two and 2K take the security and confidentiality of trade secrets very seriously. The action we’ve taken is the result of a 10-month investigation and a history of this creator profiting from breaking our policies, leaking confidential information about our product, and infringing our copyright,” said 2K.
2K also alleged that the Borderlands 3 leaks weren’t such a simple affair, with some of them dating from 2018. SupMatto’s YouTube channel had shared accurate information on Borderlands 3 details months before the official reveal, including characters and mechanics. IGN reports that some datamining may have been involved, and reports that one of the previously listed perks on SupMatto’s YouTube channel was an alleged access to a private Discord channel including additional Borderlands 3 leaks, in exchange for a $5 subscription to his YouTube channel.
IGN added that several Borderlands 3 videos containing leaked information were deleted from SupMatto’s channel after his conversation with the 2K private investigators.
“The information he’s sharing about the situation is incomplete, and in some cases untrue,” a 2K representative said to IGN. “Not only were many of his actions illegal, but they were negatively impacting the experience of other content creators and our fans in anticipation for the game.”
“We will take the necessary actions to defend against leaks and infringement of our intellectual property that not only potentially impact our business and partners, but more importantly may negatively impact the experiences of our fans and customers,” 2K added.
SupMatto said that he is going to take a break for now and see how he feels come September. He isn’t entirely sure if he wants to play Borderlands 3 and make videos on it.
