Take-Two has confirmed opening up an investigation, citing allegations over Somers making a profit off breaking their policies, as well as other “illegal” activities. The announcement sparked a backlash via social media as persons protested Somers’ innocence, also spawning the hashtag #BoycottBorderlands3.
Various Reddit users claimed to have seen several copyright strikes on the channel in question; YouTube said they came from 2K Games, the Borderlands 3 publisher. It was unclear whether the claims of infringement were filed before or after SupMatto put the video detailing Take-Two’s investigation. But the channel has since disappeared, leading to the assumption that the claims were made last Thursday as YouTube’s terms and conditions state that accused parties are granted a seven-day grace period.
The video went up last Tuesday so it’s quite likely that the channel was shut down as a result. However, the exact number of strikes on the account is still in dispute.
Eurogamer reached out to 2K for a comment on the copyright strikes last week and received a repeat statement from the studio, which states that “Take-Two and 2K take the security and confidentiality of trade secrets very seriously.”
The statement adds that 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 copyrights.”
As well, Somers’ sharing of information isn’t entirely accurate and is plainly untrue in some instances. “Not only were many of his actions illegal,” says the statement, but “they were negatively impacting the experiences 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.”
Somers’ social media channels have all been deleted but that could be due to a self-imposed hiatus as he’d previously said he would take a break from social media until September.
He does have the option of filing counter-notifications to get his YouTube channel back but will probably need to take legal action if that fails.
