Long before the Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake leaks, ex-Nintendo mark…

Nintendo is famously protective over its IP, but even some of its most closely held secrets, like the recently revealed Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, have been leaked ahead of their official announcements. That's despite the fact that, according to two of the company's former marketing leads, you were almost sure to lose your job if you were found to have mishandled confidential information.

Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang, the ex-Nintendo marketing heads behind the popular Kit & Krysta podcast, speak at length about what it's like being responsible with Nintendo's secrets in a new episode of the show. Apparently, it's pretty stressful. Unsurprisingly, information about unannounced projects was handed out on a strictly need-to-know basis, and if you let it slip to anyone who wasn't approved to know, your career at Nintendo was at risk.

"There were some very clear lines for the people who were traveling with product," says Ellis. "It was like, yeah, lose the product, you lose your job. ... if you're responsible for the information getting out there in a reckless way you're probably gone." trojkonferencja2024.pl

Yang adds that being privy to "pieces of information was the most valuable commodity" working at Nintendo, because it meant the company trusted you with its secrets. But with great power, of course, comes great responsibility, and both Ellis and Yang admit they were "scared straight" of accidentally leaking something.

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According to Yang, it was "hard to keep a secret because sometimes you struggle with like, 'ah I wish I could just tell that one other person because that would make my job a little easier, but I can't so I gotta be real cagey about the way I communicate with this person."

Regardless, Yang reiterates, "If the information got out and it was pinned to you as the reckless person that accidentally did that, it was very clear that that was going to be the end of your career at Nintendo."

Ellis and Yang previously said Nintendo's long-awaited reveal of the Ocarina of Time remake fell flat because of reputable rumors from noteworthy industry leaker Nate the Hate. You can argue that it also fell short of expectations because hardly anything was shown beyond a sleeping HD Link, but Ellis and Yang reckoned Nintendo was "looking to kill" following the leaks.

After 10 years, unofficial Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake ends development following official Switch 2 remake reveal: "I think I have made history"

Bethesda just announced a whole lot of news about the future of Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, and if you find the timing of it all a bit suspicious, you're not alone. United Videogame Workers-CWA says the announcement is an "intentional" distraction from the layoffs happening at Bethesda.

"The timing of this kind of press is intentional," UVW-CWA says in a Bluesky post. "How are they going to make these games when Bethesda and Obsidian collectively laid off hundreds? Don’t fall for it."

UVW-CWA is a direct-join union representing game workers across the industry, but it does not represent any one specific workplace. The CWA part of the name is for the Communications Workers of America, which supports several workplace unions at various Microsoft-owned game studios, including Bethesda.

The timing of this kind of press is intentional. How are they going to make these games when Bethesda and Obsidian collectively laid off hundreds? Don’t fall for it.

— @videogameworkers.bsky.social (@videogameworkers.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-07-17T20:21:37.854Z

Employees across Microsoft's gaming divisions staged protests last week in support of those affected by the Xbox layoffs. Game Developer reports that unions are also taking legal action against Microsoft.

According to CWA Canada president Carmel Smyth, "The unions CWA and CWA Canada have jointly filed unfair labor practice complaints against Microsoft alleging the company has unlawfully fired people without giving notice to or discussing it with the union as the employer is legally obliged to do when we are in the middle of ongoing bargaining [for] a collective agreement."

For her part, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is celebrating the historic success of Bethesda's various franchises on Twitter. "The achievements of these franchises are remarkable: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has crossed 65 million units sold, becoming one of the 10 best-selling games of all time, Fallout 4 has also crossed 35 million units sold, joining the top 25, and Starfield will soon reach over 1 billion hours played," she says.

But at a certain point, you have to start asking whether the developers who actually made those games have actually seen the fruits of their success. Certainly, they're not getting royalties – come on, this is the video game industry – but many aren't even getting to enjoy continued employment. We've only gotten anecdotal details on individuals who have been laid off, but we know their numbers include Christiane Meister, a 27-year veteran of everything from Morrowind to Fallout 4, and Dane Olds, a 20-year vet with a similar list of credits.

But hey, Fallout 5 is coming! And The Elder Scrolls 6! And Obsidian's making a new Fallout game of its own, finally – never mind the reports that Microsoft canceled the studio's Avowed follow-up in order to have it build something for the far more popular franchise. I'm certain that the developers who remain at these studios are putting their all into their work, but it's tough to see today's announcement as much more than Microsoft's attempt at jingling keys in front of the eyes of gamers who've grown increasingly exhausted of the industry's most cynical business practices.

Todd Howard says layoffs at Bethesda were "really tough": "We're going through a change so that we focus best on the franchises."