Nintendo Requests Subpoena to Pursue Person Behind October’s Major Pokémon Leak

Nintendo Requests Subpoena to Pursue Person Behind October’s Major Pokémon Leak

Last October, Game Freak, the company that develops Pokémon games, suffered a huge leak. This occurred after they were hacked in August. Predictably, Nintendo is looking into legal means to deal with the hacker who did so much damage. The company filed the appropriate paperwork with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to request a subpoena. Specifically, they want to subpoena Discord because it was a Discord user, known as GameFreakOUT, who they think hacked their system and released their classified information.

Nintendo wants to know GameFreakOUT’s real name, where they live, their email, and their phone number.

James D. Berkley is listed as an attorney for Nintendo of America. You can see the documents related to the case here and here.

We’ll have to see how things play out, but it might end up being similar to a previous case where someone hacked Pokémon information. In that situation, The Pokémon Company pursued individuals who leaked images of a Pokémon Sword and Shield strategy guide. This ultimately went to court, and the leakers agreed to settle and pay the company a lot of money for the damage they caused.

Among other things in the October leak, Pokémon HeartGold, SoulSilver, Black 2, and White 2 all had their source codes show up online, and there was stuff about The Great Detective Pikachu, an apparently planned sequel to Detective Pikachu. Shortly after this happened, Game Freak put out a statement in Japanese, writing, “We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and concern caused to all involved.”

You can also check out this piece where Takamitsu Sueyoshi, a rights agent and producer at Shueisha, explains how businesses are affected when they’re hacked and their information is leaked like this. He called for all people to help out by not taking part in leaks.

Source: Polygon

____

Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.