Pokémon developer Game Freak suffers massive data leak

Game Freak, the primary developer of Pokémon games, has suffered a serious data breach. Employees’ personal details have been published online, as well as a huge trove of documentation on Pokémon, including source code for complete builds of past games.

In a statement, Game Freak said the leak was a result of “unauthorized access to our servers by a third party,” and it apologized for the release of over 2,600 items of personal data. It said the breach took place in August 2024 and that the affected server had already been rebuilt.

Information obtained from the leaked files began to appear widely on Saturday and Sunday, and Game Freak’s statement surfaced online on Sunday. However, the statement is dated Thursday, Oct. 10. The statement addresses the leak of employees’ personal details but does not mention the release of any confidential game data.

So far, online communities poring over the leak claim to have unearthed vast amounts of information on past Pokémon games, including unreleased creature designs, game and feature prototypes, and complete game builds. There is less information on future Pokémon projects out there, beyond codenames and a few basic details.

“Game Freak […] has discovered that personal information of our employees and others was leaked in connection with unauthorized access to our servers by a third party in August 2024,” the studio’s statement said (via machine translation). “We sincerely apologize for the great inconvenience and concern this has caused to all those involved.”

Game Freak said it was contacting affected employees individually. “We have already rebuilt and re-inspected the server, and will strive to prevent recurrence by further strengthening our security measures,” it said.

Polygon has contacted The Pokémon Company for comment. Game Freak is one of three stakeholders in Pokémon, alongside Nintendo and Creatures Inc., developer of the Pokémon Trading Card Game.