Pokémon Developer Game Freak Suffers Data Breach

Japanese game developer Game Freak, the firm behind the Pokémon franchise, has suffered a security breach exposing the data of 2606 employees and partners.

The leak first appeared on forum 4chan in early October and is now circulating on social media and online forums under the name ‘TeraLeak’, following the naming trend of the 2020 Nintendo leak known as the ‘GigaLeak.’

TeraLeak contains multiple gigabytes of information, according to Pokémon leak monitoring social media account, Centro LEAKS. 

These allegedly include several insider information about video games, including the supposed codenames for the Nintendo Switch 2, source code for existing games such as Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilvethe, data on the next generation of Pokémon games as well as an unannounced title.

Game Freak Confirms Breach

On October 10, the video game studio confirmed that it experienced a security incident in August, during which a third party gained unauthorized access to its system and exposed the data of 2606 former and current employees.

“We have already rebuilt and inspected the server and will strive to prevent recurrence by further strengthening our security measures,” the statement said in Japanese, as translated by Infosecurity.

“We are contacting the affected employees individually [and] will set up a hotline for those who cannot be contacted directly and to handle inquiries regarding this matter.”

The company did not disclose if any Pokémon or Nintendo-related data has been exposed or whether the reported leaked information is accurate.

The upcoming Pokémon game, Pokémon Legends: Z-A, is currently in development and is scheduled to be released in 2025.

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