inXile plans "leak" of The Bard's Tale

Interplay founder Brian Fargo's new company inXile Entertainment has responded to the recent spate of leaks that's afflicted high profile games by announcing that it's considering leaking its own forthcoming title.

The company made a tongue in cheek statement in light of the recent leaks of titles including Halo 2 and Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, claiming that it was thinking of "some form of leak of The Bard's Tale... as a strategic plan to follow a growing trend among Triple A games."

"The Bard's Tale is a highly original game in the same category as a Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Half-Life 2 and Halo 2 so we feel some sort of leak that sounds similar to what they have experienced may be the next logical step in our launch plans," Fargo explained. "Of course we would immediately condemn the leak and make every effort to stop it if we proceed with it."

The Bard's Tale is inXile's first title, and launched in the United States today - although Fargo might be pleased to note that the "usual suspect" pirate sites were quite free of copies of the title this afternoon.

Both Microsoft and Take Two Interactive have reacted angrily over the past couple of weeks to leaks of their headline Christmas titles, and have appealed publicly for help in tracking down the pirates responsible, even encouraging gamers to shop their mates to the authorities in the hope of picking up leads.

The Bard's Tale should be out in Europe sometime next year, although it's difficult to say from where; although Vivendi distributes the game in the States, it had been due out over here from Acclaim before the publisher went under at the start of September.