Danica Davidson
October 15, 2024 
Game Freak, the company that develops Pokémon games, has suffered a major leak. Private information seems to have started to find its way online this past weekend, and Game Freak publicly acknowledged that it was hacked in August 2024.
A number of things were taken in the hack. There were 2,606 instances of workers’ names and email addresses being hacked, and this includes both people currently working there and people who have worked there in the past.
Besides this personal information being accessed, there are a number of things related to Pokémon and other gaming subjects. For instance, codenames for a future console and future games made their way online. Pokémon HeartGold, SoulSilver, Black 2, and White 2 all had their source codes show up online.
There’s stuff about The Great Detective Pikachu, an apparently planned sequel to Detective Pikachu. According to the information, Jordan Vogt-Roberts of Kong: Skull Island was attached to director, and it was supposed to come out in 2024. Whether or not this has been dropped or if it’s still a future movie is anyone’s guess. There’s also talk about Pokémon getting a Netflix live-action show, so that may or may not happen. And then there are just details on how business meetings in the company went.
Game Freak put out a statement in Japanese. “We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and concern caused to all involved,” it stated, while also vowing to up its security levels. It did not give any statements on leaked details on consoles, games, movies or shows.
Previously The Pokémon Company came after individuals who leaked images of a Pokémon Sword and Shield strategy guide. This ultimately made its way to court and the leakers agreed to settle and pay the company a lot of money for the damage they did. Anyone caught hacking Game Freak will probably also soon find themselves taken to court.
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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.
