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Pokémon developer Game Freak’s hack reveals franchise plans and Switch 2 details

Pokémon developer Game Freak’s hack reveals franchise plans and Switch 2 details

Pokémon developer Game Freak has been the victim of an embarrassing hack that has revealed many details about the studio’s future plans for the Pokémon franchise, as well as some internal details about Nintendo’s upcoming Nintendo Switch successor.

According to a series of social media posts from the Centro LEAKS account, which collected the information from the Game Freak leaks, many details about upcoming Pokémon projects have been revealed. One of them includes what appears to be a Pokémon MMO in development, according to a folder called “mmo_test.” Another multiplayer/combat-focused Pokémon project in the works is called CODENAME: SYNAPSE. This project, which based on this description could be another Pokémon Stadium game, is being developed in collaboration with ILCA, the Tokyo-based developer that worked on Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.

Other less notable but still interesting details revealed included source codes and beta builds for Pokémon Heart Gold/Soul Silver and Black/White 2. The leak also included the following the map editor for the 3rd generation games (Sapphire, Ruby and Emerald).

The last piece of key information revealed by the Game Freak hack is that a new mainline Pokémon game is in the works for the Switch 2, or whatever Nintendo’s next mainline console is called. Exact details about this Gen 10 Pokémon title, such as what it will be called or what specific Pokémon designs there are, are not yet available. Interestingly, the leak reveals that the internal codename for the upcoming Switch successor is “Ounce,” although nothing has been confirmed about the specs or design yet.

Given that the Switch 2 is reportedly set to release later this year, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a new mainline Pokemon game announced either as a launch title or as a killer app for the new system not long after launch. At the time of writing, neither Nintendo nor Game Freak have commented on the leak. We’ll have to wait and see how many of these leaked details are officially confirmed in the coming weeks and months.