Pokemon developer Game Freak hit with hack, internal info leaking

Game Freak, the main developer of Pokemon, appears to have been hit with a significant hack. As a result, source code for various games, behind-the-scenes information, and more has started to leak online.

Thus far we know that source code for Pokemon Heart Gold / Soul Silver and Black 2 / White 2 have surfaced. A few codenames are also popping up, including “Gaia” – which is apparently what Gen 10 is going by internally. Speaking of which, the new gen is apparently being developed for “Ounce”, which supposedly confirms Switch 2’s codename. And for those curious, “Ikkaku” is the codename for Pokemon Legends: Z-A.

Another interesting codename is Synapse. We’re not quite sure what this is, but there are reports of it being an unreleased multiplayer battle title, with some describing it as a PvP or MMO game. ILCA, who worked on Pokemon Brilliant Diamond / Shining Pearl, is apparently involved with this project.

Today’s Game Freak Pokemon hack is reminiscent of the Nintendo leak, or “Gigaleak”, that started in 2018 and was also prominent in 2020. That included information about the company’s past consoles, prototypes of games, and other internal data. Pokemon was even a part of it all as the 1997 Nintendo Space World demos for Pokemon Gold and Silver leaked and we got a look at early creature designs. 

As for today’s Game Freak hack, the situation is very much developing. We’ll keep you updated as we hear more.

Thanks to 3clipse_tt for today’s news.

Update: We have a few more tidbits. First, Synapse has now been described as a “Splatoon-like game”, but it’s unclear what that means at present. Pokemon Legends: Z-A is already finished (or at least a build of it) and seems to be a normal Switch game. Gen 10 is Switch 2 right now with the two versions K and N.