When the excellent "Meet The Spy" video was "leaked" a while ago, it didn't take long to assume that, well, it hadn't been leaked at all.
Instead, it looked as though it had been released by Valve, and made to look like a leak.
So why would the company go to such lengths to fake the release of a movie that would have gone down well regardless of how we'd found out about it? It's all to do with the development team, and how they're so in the zone.
Valve boss Gabe Newell:
Just so you know, the thing to me, that feels right, is the rhythm that Robin and his team are operating with. It's like watching the reaction of that community, watching their ability to respond, looking at the quality of the work they're getting with the length of those development cycles. They're having a great time. And I think it shows on the other side, right? I mean, they were just giggling so hard when they were changing the buttons in the movies to say "leak video." Do you remember the big screen with all the buttons? And they were like we have to put "leaks video" into that thing before we release it. They were just like cackling away. What should have been like, pretty demoralizing and stressful was for them, "Oh, this is no big deal." So, yeah, people get the idea.
Wait wait wait, so it was leaked? And they were just lucky enough to have covered their asses beforehand, in preparation? Oh Valve, you're so confusing.