Nintendo is seeking a subpoena from a California court to compel Discord to disclose the identity of the individual responsible for last year's significant Pokemon leak, referred to as the "FreakLeak" or "TeraLeak". According to court documents reported by Polygon, Nintendo aims to obtain the name, address, phone number, and email address of the Discord user known as "GameFreakOUT". It is alleged that last October, GameFreakOUT shared copyright-protected materials, including artwork, characters, source code, and other Pokemon-related content on the Discord server named "FreakLeak", which subsequently spread widely across the internet.
Although not officially confirmed, the leaked materials were likely sourced from a data breach that Game Freak disclosed in October, following the incident in August. Game Freak reported that the breach compromised the personal information of 2,606 current, former, and contract employees. Interestingly, the leaked files surfaced online on October 12, and Game Freak's statement, which was backdated to October 10, appeared online the following day. This statement did not mention any confidential company materials beyond the employee data.
The leaked content revealed a variety of unannounced projects, cut content, and early builds of other Pokemon games. Notably, it included details about "Pokemon Champions", an upcoming battle-focused game announced in February, and accurate information about "Pokemon Legends: Z-A". Additionally, the leak contained unverified information about the next generation of Pokemon, source code for various DS Pokemon titles, meeting summaries, and cut lore from "Pokemon Legends: Arceus" and other games.
While Nintendo has not yet initiated legal action against any hacker or leaker, the request for a subpoena suggests they are actively seeking to identify the person responsible. Given Nintendo's history of aggressively pursuing legal action against piracy and patent infringement, it is probable that legal proceedings could follow if the subpoena is granted.
