Pokémon Developer Game Freak Reportedly Hacked, Massive Amounts Of Data Allegedly Leaked

here we go here we go here we go again now here we go again

Porygon, you had one job.

Interesting.
The leaked of Switch 2 will have 2 models indicate there will be Console version and hybrid version.

Even the cyber security for GameFreak is trash at the job, SMH.

Bah, damn leakers... Can't they find anything USEFUL to do with their time? Then again, the fact that this happend either means these leakers are super skilled hackers... or that the cyber security at GF is just really bad

Looks like the Switch 2 is only gonna weight an ounce

It is revealed that the mainline Pokemon series will not innovate in any major way for ten generations more.

Do something more valuable with your hacking skills than ruin games, entertainment, and livelihoods for millions of people. F&*king hackers!

Kinda interested in seeing everything the source code leaks lead to. Glad to know Z-A is doing just fine as well

This is bound to be an exciting week.

Let me guess, someone at Gamefreak clicked on a link in an e-mail without thinking twice?

I'm not sure if it's confirmed, because info is coming, and being regurgitated, from many sources right now, but I saw the hackers say they're not going to reveal hardly any info from games still in development, just older already released games. If that's any condolence.

Man, Game Freak just can't catch a break, can they? They haven't been able to match the quality of their old games for the last decade, none of their side projects have seen much success, and if none of that had bothered their friends over at Nintendo, then this definitely will. I'd almost feel bad for them if they weren't still making absurd amounts of money through all of it.

Here comes the Dreamcast port of Heart Gold Soul Silver...

Please let Z-A be on 30fps locked....... ah wait were talking gamefreak so 10fps on average. All hyperbole aside gamefreak needs to seriously work on performance but I doubt I'll see that day come

@Anti-Matter
Nonsense, the only Switch 2-related stuff to come out of this leak is its codename "Ounce." That's it.

@Maubari Reading your comment while hearing Shido's voice in my head brightened up my night

Gotta catch all that data!

@PipeGuy64Bit Haha yeah, he would say such a thing wouldn't he? Personally big fan of Shido, just because of how big of a bad guy he is!

Okay, who was the idjit that rehired intern-kun?! HE ALWAYS DOES THIS!

Damn! That is absolutely crazy!! I guess absolutely no company or how big you are, nobody is safe from these hackers anymore. It does suck though that this happened. Hopefully it doesn’t delay Z-A…But at least they didn’t actually lose anything or get locked out of everything, right? So at least that’s good….

@calbeau And even if they do.. People WILL find a way to complain/cry/throw a temper tantrum over it, as they always do lmao.

Makes me really wonder if people these days can actually ENJOY a game without finding something to complain about..

Internet: That's horrible!
Me: ...Eh.

The internet loses its mind over the Pokémon gigaleak & I'm just like "okay... anyway."

Nice to see Ounce is confirmed to be the Switch Successor's codename.

Obvious it would be new console why no actual gameplay in trailer

@trcsf @Maubari Your comments are resonating with me like crazy. There are so many things that could be taken care of in this world, so many things that need fixing, things going wrong, things to improve ... and those *** hackers are proud of achieving this! What a joke, a bunch of sad people those are.

Nintendo will reveal the switch 2 next week haha.
No i hate stuff like this.

@Yalloo It's very true, unfortunately.. But you can't change these people; you can, however, change yourself to make the world a better place! I know I'm striving to be that kind of person.

... This comment really does contradict my avatar though lmao

keep rooting for the 'little guy against the big bad corporations' like many here do and not realize a lot of hard working people just got hurt by this.
Palworld will be using all those leaked ideas and you will cheer

@ChakraStomps Yeah, it seems like sone dev had their account details stolen and was even doxxed as part of this leak.

So far most of the leak has been beta designs and concept art from Gen 3, 4, and 5. It's been really cool to see some of this stuff, despite the unfortunate circumstances.

There's a beta sprite design for Gen 3 that wasn't used that would later become Scrafty in Gen 5, for example, as well as a sprite for the infamous "Latiken" (Latias/Blaziken) concept art that made its rounds on the internet years ago.

If nothing else, there’s definitely value in getting to look at scrapped Pokémon / beta designs, which we’d have never gotten otherwise

Also, it's worth pointing out that not all the beta designs in the leak are legit. Sadly, people have been mixing fakemons in with the beta designs

Oh yeah, regarding Legends ZA, it apparently does not have a Switch 2 version

@Maubari Thanks, man. Much love 🧡🙏🏻

Man, Youtubers are now going to be saying "Switch 2 soon"(tm) all the way to Christmas because erm...Nintendo will want to get ahead of the leaks or something. Dammit it hackers...what have you done?

Seriously though, I see some comments like 'Gamefreak deserved this' on social media. I can only pray that someone with such a narrow world view that they can't see past their own enjoyment of a a videogame is not old enough to vote.

@JohnnyMind What?! That's awful!! I think this leak in general was bad but that makes it SO MUCH worse...

@Fizza Exactly... and considering a dev got DOXXED because of this... I feel extremely bad for them and Game Freak as a whole and I hope whoever is behind this is punished to the full extent of the law!

Gen 10: Pokémon Cease and Pokémon Desist.

I despise hackers, they are a bunch of pathetic stay at home criminals. I was so excited to see GTA 6 and it was ruined by a pathetic nerd who hacked Rockstar.

Whether it’s hacking into business’s to blackmail companies or hacking into pensioners accounts to steal money. They are scum.

I’m always happy to read when they are caught and cry mental illness when they are getting thrown into prison to get bullied by the other criminals.

If Pokémon Legends Z-A is already finished and is not coming to Switch 2 then I'm confident it will be revealed at the next Direct and will launch either in January or February.

Interesting data, apparently one of the games is described as "Splatoon Like" so that has me intrigued, and a multiplayer game by ILCA which is a PvP MMO.

Also some of those early Pokémon designs are hilarious.

As I mentioned in the previous note, they really keep insisting on bothering Nintendo, knowing how they respond, that they can even affect us as consumers and all because of the "joke" of those people who seem to have nothing else to do in their lives...
BUT, that won't be the worst, as always in these cases, we will see the entire Internet flooded with information that shouldn't be revealed but of course, it's more important to have "the 5 minutes of fame" by sharing that information that was taken illegally and many defending this, without caring what may happen in the future, well, enjoy "another day on the Internet"

@Bluesaxo Why is it obvious? B2/W2 released in 2012 when the 3DS was already released and US/UM in 2017 during the Switch's first year. With the 9th gen having released in 2022 and Switch 2 most likely releasing in 2025 that lines up accurately with the three year gap between gens and first year of the next gen where they remain faithful to the previous console.

I will say, if Pokemon ZA is indeed Switch only, then together with Metroid Prime 4, it does point to maybe a longer wait for Switch 2 than the internet thinks. (Not wanting to be negative here...I prefer grounded.)

So, they still don't really know anything about Switch 2.

If Nintendo are thinking MP4 and yet another average Pokemon game (a fair assumption based on all previous Switch Pokemon releases) will take them through yet another year with the original Switch...

...well, they're probably right. I'll be switched off from it, but ultimately, I'm not too bothered waiting another year. Fact remains, the longer we wait now... the more likely we have new 3D Mario and Mario Kart games around the launch - and surely some frigging Donkey Kong?!

@JohnnyMind Amen! I'll get hyped when I see games for Switch 2. Until then...what exactly are folk getting excited about? Something new to put on the mantlepiece???

@AmyTheBrawler I was personally disappointed that there wasn't anymore news for the switch 2 instead it was just more Pokémon games 😞

Damn, when GameFreak is finally given more time to develop the game they wanted and this happened. They really can't catch a break...

@GrailUK Yeah. We're all gonna have Arlo and RGT85 trash videos appearing soon about this leak.

So x 100 tired of these leaks. I swear.

I am 120 hours into Violet now, and I totally love it!! Very underrated with all the grown up lil' kids internet trolling. Having a blast, I am glad I finally broke down and bought it. Really looking forward to Legends 2 on Switch 1!

I think at this point Nintendo probably need to buy Gamefreak for Gamefreak's sake, and get some of their own data security experts to manage their IT systems.

Gamefreak operating like a small studio is likely why this happened. No one's going to go after the data of the typical small scale studio but Pokemon is just too valuable to have some rinky dink system where vast swathes of data can be stolen due to a single employee falling for phishing.

@Anti-Matter That's not what it said - it said there are two VERSIONS of the game, and that it's for Switch 2. It will be like every other Pokemon game, released as two alternative versions of the same game, e.g. Sword and Shield, Diamond and Pearl...

(Also - [puts on tinfoil hat] - has anyone checked whether the Palworld developer has an alibi for this time period? 🤣)

@RubyCarbuncle
Really good point! I agree with you.
I was just thinking that too. I am in Area Zero now and it really looks like a nice art direction and the gameplay has a proper flow o it. I feel like I am in Jurrasic Park, but with pokemon, r maybe land of the lost.

Good point -I am glad I waited and got the expansion on the cart (at least on the cover, not sure if I had to separate download).

I just think some people put a lot of care into this game and maybe it was rushed out the door too soon.

Oh, also worth noting, I like the single player aspect of these games, I never have done multiplayer, and this Violet era is really good for single player gaming.

@calbeau Please explain your point without sounding like you have barely glanced at the last couple of releases.

@BrazillianCara Anyone who HAS glanced at the last couple of releases won't need any explaining from me, I can assure you.

@JohnnyMind The OG Animal Crossing was cross-gen, but only in Japan.

@LXP8 oh dear somebody got out the wrong side of the bed

Honestly it's funny how the leaker refuses to share info about future games while leaking employees personal info.

this is why hackers need to face much harsher punishments like ban from using computers or any other tech for life or disable their hands.

@GrailUK I think the mindset is a lot of people are upset with Gamefreak as their games really are the only Nintendo games that are lacking far behind in quality.

@RygelXVIII I mean, if you worked in cyber security, you'd know hackers aren't all inherently the same thing as criminals. Some do hacking as a way to get officially paid, which I imagine is what happens in your QA department, for example.

I know it's been so much time, but please give the Pokémon devs a chance to surprise everyone, this is so severe to them... Gen X and the Switch 2 are suppossed to be surprises, so don't think too much about them. Synapse though? Whatever that is, it is definitely something in development, so the surprise shouldn't be ruined either.
Development on Legends Z-A is finished? That doesn't line with some leakers saying it won't arrive early next year, I guess Game Freak is making sure it is bug-free for a long time.

Truly a lot was leaked, really. Maybe even very exciting non-game stuff in fact. It's like Game Freak has been planning a resurgence for the franchise coming eventually. That would've been like a dream if it was the Pokémon franchise equivalent of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDgR1FRJnF8

The next Nintendo console is being called "Ounce"?
Good to know Nintendo is sure to Pound this leaker into oblivion.
I can't weight to see it!
Surely they're developing a new console that will tip the scales in their favor.

Though doxxing Game Freak and contracted employees is never good. Not sure what do you do about it.

This'll be great evidence to use in my proposal to my boss on Monday that we need to institute stricter Phishing identification lessons and protocols.

@RiasGremory Disable their hands? That’s sounds harsh. I love it!

@fenlix Kinda like they have a vendetta against someone, but don’t really care about the games. Or value the games more than the employees.

@The_DuckWitch Well, I'm giving them a break. They have built a billion dollar franchise up on handheld gaming. Converting to the home was always going to be a big ask and a change in mindset somewhat. Heck, I'm still convinced the Switch Lite was to appease any concerns The Pokemon Company has had.
But all that aside, The Pokemon Company doesn't seem to quite have the same amount of integrity as Nintendo and have braced things like mobile apps much more. I'm sure they will get there this coming generation.

The doxxing is absolutely unacceptable.

Everyone's mad about the leak yet here we all are trying to scrape all the info we can out of it. Too funny.

@psyraven76 Oh good, I wasn’t the only one theorizing that about Palworld!

@RygelXVIII Made worse by it being said by some people who have a clear bent against the company and want to say stupid ***** to justify their disdain.

That's a lot of comments to read though! To go over my thoughts, it's neat to see some of the stuff that wouldn't have come otherwise (someone PLEASE tell me more about Latias/Blaziken! I love those two!) but it is outright criminal that they doxxed the person they used to gain access to this content. There's plenty of stuff that likely wouldn't have ever shown itself had this not happened, and I appreciate them keeping future games out of it, but hate them attacking the employees. Even if you hate the company's lack of producing a complete product, profiting worth millions, if not billions, then becoming the go to for another generation, that's no reason to harm the employees themselves.

@RiasGremory release the IP bans & slowly disable their hands while the Nintendo Ninjas are at it. The hacker won't have time to beg to be spared after the crime has been done.

No mercy!

@Twilite9 Mac OSX (or macOS) user I presume?

Very sad to hear about this. I hope these hackers will get their rightful punishment and that they will do something useful with their skills in the future.

@gardevoir7 That just makes it even worse. They released employee’s personal information but they won’t release info on games in development? They aren’t doing something noble then. They are either keeping it to themselves as some weird elitist power trip of “I am the only one that knows secrets millions of people wish they knew.”, or more than likely they are holding this information to sell.

Looks like we‘re getting a Palworld sequel, folks

These hackers have forever ruined this because to enjoy it now is to enjoy the proceeds of crime.

What a shame.

I wonder which employee had a thing for Octillery...

@Bluesaxo No, I was just discussing why I think it's possible gen 10 could come to Switch based on the history of the series releases. I don't know what aspect of my comment made you feel attacked, or threatened, but your reply has made you look like the negative one.

@shoeses For a company that is so bad at their job, they sure are doing quite well.

Do apologise . I not offended easily just said it saying use in England. Just a guess from trailer being no actually game play and that weird computer graphics. I not fuzzed still plays legends of arcus and hant got violet yet . Going ask my partner get it for me for Xmas. Need a little gap between games as take along time to complete.

@Twilite9 Oh ok, fair enough...

@UltimateOtaku91 The "Splatoon-like" game is the ILCA PvP game. Further probing indicated it's not actually an MMO

Nintendo and Game Freak are too busy suing people that they forgot to protect their backyard.

Good. May the big, evil corpos get hacked to oblivion.