Path of Exile co-creator says decoy assets waste time but still make good dataminer bait
Chris Wilson said encryption can protect a game before release, but players eventually need its files decrypted to run it.
Path of Exile co-creator Chris Wilson says using fake assets to confuse dataminers can be entertaining, but his experience at Grinding Gear Games taught him that the approach is a poor use of development time.
Wilson discussed the problem in a video on his YouTube channel, looking back at the ways developers try to limit what players can uncover from a game’s files. He said studios can automatically remove data that is not required for the player experience and avoid shipping assets that point toward cut content or future updates.
“Some developers, including me in a past life, have added in decoy assets, so players don’t know what to believe,” Wilson said. “But that’s a pretty wasteful process. Very good for trolling, though.”
The tradeoff is easy to understand. A decoy has to be created, added to the game, and maintained even though it does not improve the experience for anyone playing it. It can still muddy the waters when dataminers find it, especially because extracted files rarely include the context needed to show whether something is planned, abandoned, or simply leftover.
Encryption offers only a temporary barrier. Wilson noted that it can help protect a game before launch, but released software has to decrypt the data players need in order to run it. Once that happens, determined dataminers have a much clearer path to the underlying assets.
That leaves developers with ways to reduce confusion rather than a reliable method for stopping datamining altogether. For Wilson, the occasional joke may be worth the trouble, but fake content remains a strange expense when the same time could go toward the game itself.
Decoy assets may be wasteful, but the occasional developer prank can still give a datamining dispute an amusing turn. Share your thoughts in the comments, and follow us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.
Path of Exile
Developed by Grinding Gear Games
You are an Exile, struggling to survive on the dark continent of Wraeclast, as you fight to earn power that will allow you to exact your revenge against those who wronged you. Created by hardcore gamers, Path of Exile is an online Action RPG set in a dark fantasy world.
- Genre Role-playing (RPG), Hack and slash/Beat 'em up, Adventure
- Platforms PlayStation 4, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5, Mac, Xbox One
- Perspective Bird view / Isometric
- Modes Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative, Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO)
- Release October 23, 2013
- Publisher Grinding Gear Games
-
Age Rating
