Pokémon Legends Arceus has leaked online 9 days prior to the January 28th release date.

We have received reports of an XCI around 7.4GB in size appearing in certain places online. Initial testing appears the title does not boot on the Yuzu Nintendo Switch emulator.

Further details to follow.

Please remember that it is strictly against GBAtemp terms and rules to link to, or to suggest places where you can obtain copyrighted material such as game ROMs etc.

 

[Jayro]

Aaaaaaaaand.... Downloading with VPN turned on.

 

[Jayro]

He's the leaker

Or he knows who the leaker is.

 

[JavaScribe]

Seems like Nintendo has had a lot of games leak early. You'd think they would figure out how they're getting out and then fix it... whether it's an employee leaking them, or just really bad security policies, it can't be THAT hard to fix the issue, right?

 

[zoogie]

Seems like Nintendo has had a lot of games leak early. You'd think they would figure out how they're getting out and then fix it... whether it's an employee leaking them, or just really bad security policies, it can't be THAT hard to fix the issue, right?

Full digital distribution. Coming as early as next console generation.

 

[MochaMilk]

It's ironic. Nintendo's mascot is a plumber, yet the company has a terrible leaking issue.

 

[AlexMCS]

The .NSZ is under 3GB, nice.

 

[JavaScribe]

Full digital distribution. Coming as early as next console generation.

There's gotta be a way to make it a little harder to crack. Then again, Nintendo.

 

[wartutor]

Does this game have the full pokedex or is it another half ass game with the same old encounters over and over. If its not full fuck it i wont buy it....who the fux am i kidding i will still probably buy it lol.

 

[SuperDan]

Shurre Wish I could Hack My OLED Switch ...... one day ...maybe ...one day ... ... poo !!!!

 

[AkiraKurusu]

I wonder...anyone who got this game early, how fun is this game? Is it gonna be worth purchasing and downloading?

 

[CoolMe]

This is a actually good thing for folks to see if it's actually worth it or not, for them.

 

[ZeroFX]

already playing.

 

[diggeloid]

How does this keep happening lol? Bad security, rogue employees, or both?

 

[zoogie]

There's gotta be a way to make it a little harder to crack. Then again, Nintendo.

I'm honestly surprised they don't at least do release day crypto unlocks for carts like they do with digital titles. In a post-covid world, it can easily be assumed almost everyone is online, even kindergarten aged Pokemon tykes.

 

[glencoe2004]

There are only three things certain in life: Death, Taxes, and Nintendo games leaking before release date. And I'm not so sure about the first two.

 

[ChibiMofo]

fucking lmao go figure
no wonder nintendo piracy is so high compared to other companies

Or it could be that people (pirated included) like Nintendo games more.

 

[Issac]

I look forward to this game so bad! Instabuy if things were different, but one day I'll sink my teeth into it

 

[Hells Malice]

Seems like Nintendo has had a lot of games leak early. You'd think they would figure out how they're getting out and then fix it... whether it's an employee leaking them, or just really bad security policies, it can't be THAT hard to fix the issue, right?

Stores break release date. So, no. There's a few options and they're all terrible.
A: digital only
B: require an online check to launch a physical game
C: only have games delivered to stores day of, or more likely past release because it'd be nearly impossible to have them all coordinated.

It's an issue for Nintendo because they're Nintendo. As much as dumbasses cry and bitch, they still latch onto Nintendos teat and suck it dry every single release because they make great games. People don't care as much to leak other games, but it does happen for console games.

And frankly? It's not worth caring. It'll still sell millions. An overwhelming majority of switch owners are legit, as always.

 

[ChibiMofo]

I'm not personally interested in the pirate copy of this game but at the same time I've no sympathy for N at all. They constantly shut down home brew's and other type sites and fleece loyal collectors for every penny with special editions and fixed high prices.

Zero sympathy.

They don't shut down ANYTHING that doesn't violate their IP rights. Justifying piracy with "My favorite company that makes products that I love to death is evil!!!!" is as old as piracy itself. Nintendo management has a responsibility to its shareholders to protect it's valuable IP and it does not matter even slightly whether their fans like that or not. And NO ONE IS FLEECED because NO ONE is FORCED to buy a 24 carrot gold Peach figurine/Amiibo!

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Seems like Nintendo has had a lot of games leak early. You'd think they would figure out how they're getting out and then fix it... whether it's an employee leaking them, or just really bad security policies, it can't be THAT hard to fix the issue, right?

It's probably not one employee, but a few dozen that would be able and willing to leak games this early. Anyone high enough up in the ladder of distribution to have access to the games that early could do it, and there are too many possible points of egress for Nintendo to easily find the culprit(s).

What I do know is. Individual stores typically don't get games until a few days ahead of release (giving some margin of room for delays and shipping items out to customers), but warehouses belonging to chains etc. can get them weeks in advance as they need time to ship them out to all the individual stores. Anywhere between the warehouse and your local store, a game could just "fall off the truck".
And there are a number of people who would have had access to the warehouse and could've taken a copy during the time it's there, and even silently put it back after dumping if they were extra ballsy or just wanted to avoid it being discovered as quickly.
Even if the owner of the warehouse knew who did it, they might not report it back to Nintendo if they're in on it or they're bribed.
And if the warehouse owner isn't being helpful there's not much Nintendo can do, unless they don't mind cutting off the supply to that warehouse entirely, which could potentially cut off access to their games to every single store in a chain, which could mean a lot of profit lost for Nintendo.