In a rather droll twist of fate, Bethesda has made an unwitting error by erroneously copyright-striking Redfall’s official Twitter account, just a day prior to the highly anticipated game’s release.
This incident came to light when Twitter user PMS Jordan shared a screenshot of Redfall’s Twitter account, revealing a blocked banner photo. The text on the banner stated that the image had been “removed in response to a report from the copyright holder.”
Subsequent investigation revealed that Bethesda had been targeting leaked footage of the game on Twitter, and had implemented a bot to detect and report any Redfall-related content. Although successful in removing unauthorized game footage, the bot also caused an unexpected side-effect of blocking the game’s official Twitter account.
Weekend Warrior, a Twitter user, shed further light on the situation, revealing that Bethesda’s bot was the cause of the mishap. However, it remains unclear whether the company was using a bot to issue copyright strikes.
Fortunately, the Redfall Twitter account’s cover photo has since been reinstated to its original state. Nonetheless, it remains unclear whether this was due to the upload of a new image or a reversal of the strike.
This comical situation has drawn a great deal of attention, and serves as a reminder of the unpredictability of technology. Bethesda’s unintentional copyright strike on Redfall’s official Twitter account is undoubtedly a humorous gaffe that has left gamers in stitches.
