The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is one of the most hyped Nintendo releases of 2023 and there have been a lot of leaks leading up to its release in May. Now, one of the leakers has been caught and fired.
As the release of Tears of the Kingdom draws near, more and more leakers have been sharing tantalizing information about the new Zelda game. One of the biggest leaks, however, was the early reveal of the Tears of the Kingdom OLED Switch. A post on Reddit states that the guy who leaked the upcoming console has been fired from GameStop.
Tears of the Kingdom leaker in trouble
A leaker going by Mike shared a screenshot on Reddit back in March of 2023 that showed a Tears of the Kingdom Switch model in the inventory database. This was a day before Nintendo’s official reveal. Mike told
Kotaku
in a follow-up phone interview that he wanted to give people a “heads up” when it came to pre-ordering the console.
At the time, Mike thought nothing of it since it was mostly speculation. But he was fired two weeks later.
Source: Reddit
According to Mike, the leak was traced to his store in Massachusetts on April 5. After watching the new Super Mario Bros. Movie, Mike was called into the backroom for a meeting with the district manager and a GameStop supervisor. He confessed right away when asked about the Reddit post but claimed he wasn’t aware it went against any policies.
A week later, on April 11, the store manager told Mike — who had been suspended — that he’d been fired. According to the Tears of the Kingdom leaker, the supervisor was forced to fire him by Nintendo.
While being fired isn’t great, the real tragedy was when Mike realized he wouldn’t be able to secure his Tears of the Kingdom OLED Switch pre-order.
On the Reddit thread, gamers expressed sympathy for Mike. A lot of people felt that it wasn’t right to get fired over the screenshot, which Mike called an “educated guess” and not a true leak.
Nintendo has been cracking down on leaks hardcore, making this outcome not the least bit surprising. This didn’t stop Nintendo fans from largely rallying behind Mike, with some even asking him to set up a Go Fund Me to get him the Tears of the Kingdom OLED Switch and make up for his lost job.
Olivia Richman
About Olivia Richman
Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.
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