Nintendo demands Discord data in Pokemon leak probe

Nintendo is seeking a court order from California that would compel Discord to reveal the personal details of the individual behind last year's massive Pokémon data breach, referred to as the "FreakLeak" or "TeraLeak".

Legal filings obtained by Polygon reveal Nintendo wants Discord to disclose the real name, physical address, phone number, and email of a user called "GameFreakOUT". This account allegedly shared copyrighted Pokémon assets—including character designs, game source code, and other proprietary materials—on a Discord server called "FreakLeak" last October, before the content spread across the internet.

The Source of the Leaked Content

While unconfirmed, these materials likely stem from a data intrusion Game Freak acknowledged in October. The developer reported unauthorized access to 2,606 current and former employee records. Interestingly, the leaks surfaced on October 12, followed by Game Freak's statement on October 13—though the notice was backdated to October 10 and only referenced personnel data, not game assets.

The breach exposed multiple unannounced games along with scrapped concepts and developmental builds. Most remarkably, it revealed "Pokémon Champions," a then-unannounced battle-centric title later officially confirmed in February. The dump also contained accurate details about Pokémon Legends: Z-A months before its announcement, plus unverified information about future Pokémon generations, source code from DS-era games, internal meeting notes, and deleted lore from Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

Nintendo's Legal Strategy

While Nintendo hasn't yet initiated legal proceedings, the subpoena suggests the company aims to identify the perpetrator. Known for aggressively protecting its intellectual property through lawsuits against piracy and patent violations, Nintendo's actions indicate this investigation could escalate quickly if the court approves the request.