The biggest Nintendo game of 2018 isn’t out yet, but it already leaked

The biggest Nintendo game of the year, “Super Smash
Bros. Ultimate,” for the Nintendo Switch.
Nintendo

• Nintendo’s
  biggest game of the year, “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate,” is
  scheduled to launch on December 7.
• It’s the fifth major entry in the “Super
  Smash Bros.” fighting game series, which stars a massive
  cast of classic gaming characters from Nintendo and
  elsewhere.
• Despite the game still being nearly two weeks from
  launch, software pirates are already leaking the game
  online.

Nintendo
is playing whack-a-mole with leaked videos of its next big game,
“Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.” 

The Japanese video game powerhouse is issuing takedown notices to
countless YouTube and Twitch videos that offer an unfiltered look
at the next big Nintendo Switch game. 

The game appears to have leaked via software pirates over the
weekend, according to
a report on Motherboard.

As of this writing on Monday afternoon, it’s easy to find
everything from live gameplay streams to cutscene compilations —
much of the focus of early leakers is to demonstrate the many
facets of “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” that Nintendo has yet to
reveal. 

The issue is that “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” isn’t scheduled to
arrive until December 7. 

This particular livestream
was going for 13 hours when I found it.
YouTube/Nintendo

As such, Nintendo is attempting to shut down the many, many
videos of “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” that are repeatedly
sprouting up. 

It’s a game of whack-a-mole that’s unlikely to end, as more
people download the game illegally and stream it online — an
especially frustrating situation for Nintendo given how far we
are from the game’s official launch on December 7. Company
representatives didn’t respond to our request for comment. 

Nintendo has a long history of taking legal action against
piracy. Most recently, the company
won a lawsuit against an Arizona couple who ran a website
that distributed free versions of classic games. 

It’s unclear what action, if any, Nintendo will take regarding
the piracy of “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.”

One thing is clear: With over 10 days to go until the
game launches, and an ongoing flood of videos showcasing the game
ahead of launch, Nintendo has a ton of work on its hands.