Massive Game Freak leak exposes employee info, confirms Switch 2 codename, and allegedly leaks over a terabyte of Pokémon content

Game Freak, the developer of the Pokémon franchise, has confirmed a massive data breach, which saw over 2,000 pieces of employee information stolen and shared online. The compromised data includes personal details such as full names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses of current, former, and contract employees - but that's just the tip of the iceberg. In a public statement, Game Freak acknowledged that unauthorized access by a third party was responsible for the breach via a phishing email. 

As mentioned earlier, the data breach goes far beyond employee information. Along with the personal details, a huge amount of confidential material related to the Pokémon franchise was leaked. Notably, source code for several games, including Pokémon HeartGold, SoulSilver, and Black 2/White 2, was among the exposed files. The leak also seems to have confirmed that the codename for the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 is "Ounce", as hinted by previous rumors circulating online. 

The breach also allegedly revealed much more than game code. Stolen content seems to include development tools, lore documents, beta designs, cut content, unused soundtracks, and even notes from developer meetings. Additionally, the leak reportedly had some future Pokémon game plans, as well as entire movie scripts, new anime seasons, and live-action show projects. This gargantuan volume of information is no joke, since it gives fans a rare look behind the scenes of one of gaming's most secretive franchises.

Game Freak stated that it has taken action to address the vulnerability that allowed the breach, claiming that the issue has now been resolved. They also assured that affected employees would be contacted directly where possible, while others would be notified via the public announcement in question. Though Game Freak has apologized for the inconvenience caused, the damage from this data leak could be far-reaching, with the entire Pokémon brand and its future projects now under scrutiny.

Fans are already dissecting the leaked material, recent posts are being deleted across X/Twitter, and discussions are expected to escalate and deescalate over the next few days. The scale of this leak is pretty close to the past leaks we've seen in the last couple of years (if not bigger), including the Insomniac leak (where Wolverine and other games were exposed). And to think all this started from a phishing email - just like the Rockstar Games' GTA 6 hack.