It appears another "gigaleak" has gone down, involving Nintendo. According to sources online, it appears that Game Freak has been hacked, resulting in internal data from the company being leaked to the public. Those involved in the hacking community or those within general Pokemon related groups are claiming that while they will not be discussing or dissecting the specifics within the leak, it initially is being claimed that there is a total of 1TB of data.

This allegedly includes the source code for Pokemon Platinum, source codes for Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver, beta builds of Pokemon Black and White 2, beta builds of Pokemon X and Y, and potential internal codenames for upcoming Pokemon projects. Within it are mentions of an online Pokemon game, a collaborative project between Game Freak and Studio ILCA, the potential code name of the Nintendo Switch 2 being "Ounce", and a project named Gaia, which may be the next generation of Pokemon titles.

Further details are slowly being posted on X, and as more becomes clear, we'll be sure to update this post with new information.

[Gigaleak]

I'm currently hearing that a significant amount of internal data from Game Freak is being leaked onto the Internet.

I don't intend on looking at this data so I can't confirm for myself, but I have heard it includes stuff like source code for HeartGold & SoulSilver.

— OatmealDome (@OatmealDome) October 12, 2024

​

Source: X.com: CentroLeaks
Source: X.com: 3clipse_tt
Source: X.com: SwitchTools

[UPDATE]

• As some of the data from the gigaleak hints towards a "Gen 10" Pokemon game, industry insider NecroLipe claims that Pokemon Gaia will launch for both the Switch and its successor system.
• Users on ResetEra claim that a playable build of Legends Z-A is included in the leak.
• Ikkaku, Gaia-K, and Gaia-N are all codenames with Nintendo Switch product codes.
• Synapse appears to be an "online multiplayer" game. This is the collab project with ILCA, who worked on BD/SP. One claim states that it's similar to an MMO, while another says it's closer to Splatoon.
• Contrary to the claims of there being a version of Legends Z-A that is close to complete, the leaker has apparently said they don't wish to spoil the surprises of future unreleased games, so those will not be included in the leak.
• The hack is the result of a phishing attempt on a Nintendo Dev Portal user.
• Beta Gen 3 Pokemon sprites were leaked
• Internal design documents for Gen 4 and Gen 5 were leaked.
• An official map editor for Gen 4 is in the files.
• Logo and boxart design from Game Freak were included.

 

[SylverReZ]

The leak occurred seemingly on October 10, 2024; personal data of over 2,606 retired or active employees was compromised back in Aug, 2024. The leak contains names and company e-mail addresses, so far nothing crucial like IDs (i.e., passports).

https://www.gamefreak.co.jp/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/info20241010.pdf

Translation:

Notice and apology regarding personal information leak due to unauthorized access

Game Freak Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Representative Director: Satoshi Tajiri, hereinafter referred to as the "Company") has announced that in connection with unauthorized access to our server by a third party that occurred in August 2024, our employees. It has come to light that personal information of employees, etc., has been leaked.

We sincerely apologize for the great inconvenience and concern this has caused to everyone involved.

1. Leaked personal information
Personal data regarding our employees, etc.*
Items: Name, company email address
Number of items: 2,606 items
*Our employees and contract workers (including retirees and former employees)

2. Responses to those whose personal information has been confirmed to have been leaked
We will be contacting the affected employees individually. For those who are unable to contact us individually due to retirement or other reasons, we will notify you through this announcement and will respond to inquiries regarding this matter by setting up a contact point.

3.Recurrence prevention measures
We have already rebuilt and re-inspected our servers, but we will further strengthen our security measures to prevent this from happening again.

4. Inquiries regarding this matter
Inquiries from those affected by this matter are accepted at the contact point below.

 

[AkiraKurusu]

his allegedly includes the source code for Pokemon Platinum, source codes for Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver

Could help the decomps, maybe? Obviously can't use this code verbatim, but surely using it as a guide is OK.

the potential code name of the Nintendo Switch 2 being "Ounce"

What. "Ounce"? Ugh. Choose something metric, next time. Bad code name.

An official map editor for Gen 4 is in the files.

Awesome! Gen 4's always lagged behind Gen 3 in terms of major ROM hacks, so hopefully this (or a decomp'ed version) will make Gen 4 hacking more popular.

 

[LoggerMan]

Imagine living in a world where this was never leaked, it stays in GameFreak's/Nintendo's vault as trade secrets, and one day is lost forever.

 

[chrisrlink]

thats karma for ya

 

[cearp]

Stuff like this really comes off like advertising than it does news. Some things shouldn't be in the news for the sake of sensitive legality and keeping the cancer away in the communities.

I for one appreciated the news, as otherwise I wouldn't have known, and honestly it's a great opportunity to be able to take a look at some of the source code - quite happy that I was able to!

 

[Halbour]

For some reason, the only thing people have enjoyed from this leak is that "human and Pokémon relationships are now canon"...

 

[Laron]

crazy. I am curious what will else will come form this considering the rocky development some of the games had.

 

[Graxer]

Could help the decomps, maybe? Obviously can't use this code verbatim, but surely using it as a guide is OK.

If I remember correctly previous N64 decomp efforts specifically banned people from taking part if they had seen gigaleak code. If any inspiration is taken from the leaked source code the decomp is no longer "clean room" and therefore illegal. It would potentially completely destroy the decompilation effort.

The clean room approach is partly what makes decomps and the things that are made with them untouchable legally.

 

[emigre]

Gardevoir fans are waking up, seeing the leaks and feel vindicated I imagine.

 

[OM3GAZX]

Damn, no Legends Z-A prototype release? That's a huge punch in the face for beta enthusiasts.

 

[Laron]

Damn, no Legends Z-A prototype release? That's a huge punch in the face for beta enthusiasts.

Non for now. They did say they did't want to spoil things. I could see it make it's way online once the game is out and had some to be cleared.

 

[OM3GAZX]

Non for now. They did say they did't want to spoil things. I could see it make it's way online once the game is out and had some to be cleared.

I sure hope so. Praying so the leakers don't forget they have an important piece of gaming history in their possession.

 

[notsu]

can't find any dl links online, lol.

 

[OM3GAZX]

can't find any dl links online, lol.

It's just a matter of time until the links pop up. The leak just happened very recently.

 

[abal1000x]

can't find any dl links online, lol.

At current state, theres 77GB of leaked files online

 

[notsu]

At current state, theres 77GB of leaked files online

I guess it isn't linked to on the pokeleaks sub or 4chan, then? i'm not part of any discord groups.

why did those terrorists take down the IA just before this leak lmao?

 

[abal1000x]

I guess it isn't linked to on the pokeleaks sub or 4chan, then? i'm not part of any discord groups.

why did those terrorists take down the IA just before this leak lmao?

Its also on 4chan. The discord is a good distraction. Only if you serious you'll find it.

 

[urbanman2004]

Retribution for PalWorld? Serves Nintendo right for suing Pocketpair and taking down my fav Switch emulators...

 

[Jahrs]

Definition of paybacks a bitch and proof that if nintendo focused more on the security of their systems then on legal witch hunts they'd have way less issues. Well I'm sure their next stability update will solve all their problems.

 

[FluffyLunamoth]

Retribution for PalWorld? Serves Nintendo right for suing Pocketpair and taking down my fav Switch emulators...

Except if Palworld really did use code that wasn't there own, Nintendo is completely justified.

And you can blame Ryujinx and Yuzu being taken down on the devs and people who didn't keep their piracy under the table. Y'all forgot it's illegal, whether ya like it or not.

Post automatically merged: Oct 14, 2024

Security can only do so much in a phishing scam, especially if the rumor is that it's an ex-employee.

Please put your hate-bone away and think rationally for once. Phishing can get around the absolute best security, that's how it works.