Pokemon developer Game Freak has suffered a major hack which has eventuated in employee data, beta Pokemon plans, and other sensitive data being shared online. The company has confirmed the breach took place in August 2024, and that a third-party managed to nab a range of documents and data from the company during the incursion.
“Game Freak Inc. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Satoshi Tajiri; hereinafter referred to as “our company”) has discovered that personal information of employees and others was leaked in connection with unauthorised access to our server by a third party in August 2024,” the company said, per Nintendo Everything.
It has apologised to employees for the inconvenience, and is currently working to provide remedies. That includes contacting impacting employees and providing next steps, and improving its server security to prevent future recurrence.
Given the nature of the data obtained by the hackers, it’s likely Game Freak will be looking to lock down its servers with much tighter protection going forward.
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As reported by various outlets, the data leaked online includes various details not meant for public consumption. It has revealed the “Gaia” codename for a future gen 10 Pokemon game. It has seemingly revealed the Nintendo Switch 2 is codenamed “Ounce.”
There is also seeming confirmation that Pokemon Legends: Z-A was initially set to release in 2024, as well as outlines suggesting the standalone Detective Pikachu film was originally meant to be part of a trilogy.
The nature of this leak is very serious, of course, but there is also a measure of excitement from players keen to see rare “behind the scenes” glimpses at the development of Pokemon. Game Freak and its partners, including The Pokemon Company and Nintendo, are typically very secretive about their game development processes, in a way that maintains their mystique. Naturally, this leads to a rampant curiosity – and so, leaked data including beta sprites of Pokemon designs, concept artwork, and source code has excited many.
Within the data, reporters have discovered a range of Pokemon that never quite made it to market, as well as some wild character concepts and design notes that illuminate more about the direction and development of previous Pokemon games. This data may not have been meant for the public, but it’s proved to be a major source of fascination.
While we should remember this hack is egregious, and many employees will now have to contend with their data potentially being publicly available, it’s hard to discount how intriguing this leak is for keen Pokemon fans, developers, and historians. There’s much to learn about game development from this data, as long as it’s treated with the sensitivity it deserves.