Borderlands 3 Boycott
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Overview
Borderlands 3 Boycott, spread on Twitter through the hashtag #BoycottBorderlands3, refers to a campaign to not buy the video game Borderlands 3 after it was revealed that the game's publisher, Take-Two Interactive, had sent private investigators to YouTuber SupMatto's house after he made videos on leaks mined from an advertisement for the game's Twitch extension.
Background
On April 29th, 2019, the Borderlands YouTube channel posted a video advertising the ECHOCast3 Twitch extension they'd developed for the game (shown below). The advertisement featured what appeared to be a fake Twitch name created with gibberish characters. However, the account in the video was a real Twitch account, and a clip on the page featured a snippet of unreleased Borderlands 3 gameplay. From this discovery, fans were able to data mine unreleased information on Borderlands 3, such as character skill trees.[1]
YouTuber SupMatto, aka Matt Somers, had long been a Borderlands-focused YouTuber, discussing gameplay tips, the history of the series, and rumors and leaks for future installments. Somers had reported on several rumored leaks that turned out to be accurate, including details about new playable characters, the presence of a radiation element for guns, and the development of a Borderlands 2 add-on.[2]
Developments
Towards the end of July, Somers ceased uploading for several weeks, which was unusual for his channel. On August 6th, 2019, he uploaded a video titled "Time to Break the Silence and Fill You In," in which he says that on July 25th, two private investigators claiming to be hired by Take-Two Interactive trespassed on his property and asked him questions for 45 minutes. He says twenty minutes after they left, his Discord server and Discord account had been terminated. Discord stated in their email to Somers the ban was due to the account being "involved in selling, promoting, or distributing cheats, hacks, or cracked accounts." Take-Two subsidiary 2K Games stated to Kotaku that Somers' video was “incomplete and in some cases untrue." They stated "Take-Two and 2K take the security and confidentiality of trade secrets very seriously,” adding that the company “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.”
As Somers' video spread online, the hashtag "#BoycottBorderlands3" spread on Twitter, as Twitter users expressed outrage at Take-Two's actions. User @40_40vision posted a Blinking White Guy GIF about Take-Two's actions, gaining over 320 retweets and 1,200 likes (shown below, left). User @QuestInterest posted a screenshot from a RedLetterMedia video as a way of mocking people defending Take-Two in the controversy, gaining over 290 retweets and 1,300 likes (shown below, right).
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