Pokémon game developer confirms data breach that exposes employee and game data
More than 2,600 employees were affected by the Game Freak data breach, and the game’s source code and art were also compromised.
The Japanese video game developer currently responsible for the popular Pokémon The video game series has confirmed that it was the victim of a major data breach that affected more than 2,000 current and former employees.
In addition to employee data, a large volume of development documents were also part of the leak, and source code, art, and more have been shared on numerous gaming forums, particularly the popular r/PokeLeaks subreddit.
The leak, which is already known as “TeraLeak,” after a 2020 Nintendo leak known as GigaLeak, is being hosted anonymously online, although the motive and identity of the leaker remain unknown.
“In connection with the unauthorized access of a third party to our server in August 2024, it came to light that personal information of our employees, etc. was leaked,” states a notice from the company, published on October 10. translated by Google Translate, said
“We apologize for the inconvenience and concern this has caused to everyone involved.”
The leaked employee information includes personal data containing the names and emails of 2,606 current and former employees, both in full-time and contract positions. Game Freak has begun contacting those affected, according to the notice.
“We have already rebuilt and re-inspected the server,” Game Freak said.
“We will strive to prevent this from happening again by further strengthening our security measures.”
As difficult as the leak must be for Game Freak and its employees, fans of the developer’s games are having a lot of fun tracking down the data, which dates back to games made 25 years ago, along with game titles that haven’t seen the release. daylight.
“It’s very interesting that Kecleon, Wailmer, and Azurill were finalized from the beginning,” said a member of r/PokeLeaks.
“They are the first three Gen III Pokémon which I remember seeing around 2001/2 on the first Serebii and other Pokémon forums, when I was about eight years old.”
Others, however, find their joy at the new art and information tempered by the personal impact on Game Freak employees.
“I hope most of the personal information remains invisible, it just feels gross to see things like that when I just want to see interesting information about the development,” said another.
“I remember when personal development emails were included with star fox 2 beta assets during Gigaleak 2020, and that was not good either.”
