Pokémon developer Game Freak reels from unprecedented “gigaleak” of “significant internal data”
Update 11.44am: Game Freak has acknowledged the leak in a Japanese-language statement posted to its website on 10th October.
The company apologised that personal information about its employees was leaked via “unauthorised access” to its servers “by a third party” in August 2024.
The personal information is said to include full names and contact information for over 2500 past and present employees, including contracters.
Game Freak says it has secured the server convinced and is strengthening its security measures.
Original story follows.
Mainline Pokémon developer Game Freak is reeling from an unprecedented “gigaleak” of “significant internal data” of Pokémon info that reportedly includes source code for HeartGold/SoulSilver and the codename for Switch 2.
Pokémon insiders like CentroLeaks say the leak contains “multiple gigabytes of info”, including details of unannounced games, including one “Splatoon-like” multiplayer/battle-focused game developed in collaboration with ILCA codenamed “Synapse” and a folder entitled “mmo_test”.
It’s also thought that Game Freak is internally referring to Switch 2 with the codename “Ounce”.
There are also reports of a “trilogy live-action movie series”. Whilst two are based upon Detective Pikachu, one – called Game Boy – “aims to dig deep into the theme of Pokémon’s boundless potential, creating a story that highlights the importance of bonds, whether between friends or between Pokémon themselves”.
The complete plot to a Detective Pikachu sequel, The Great Detective Pikachu, is also included. It seems the movie was originally planned for release in 2024, but “it’s unclear if it was just delayed or cancelled”.
More astonishingly still, a document containing the alleged meeting notes from when The Pokémon Company “reflected on why Ash’s story in the anime needed to end” has also leaked.
“Lots of source files and beta content for past Pokémon games are currently leaking, along with a few details on upcoming projects,” Centro Leaks said on X/Twitter.
“We expect more information to be uncovered in the coming hours and days.”
Whilst we’ll refrain from sharing the images here, you don’t have to go far to find compilations of “all the sprites together”, PSD files from game logos, and “hundreds of concept arts and character sheets”.
Whilst there’s no way of authenticating the leaked documents and neither The Pokémon Company or Game Freak have commented on their veracity, the sheer number of images and documents have many believing, like the GTA leak in 2022, that they are authentic.
