Pokemon developer Game Freak confirms massive leak and reveals future projects

^{Image: The Pokemon Company}

Pokémon game developer Game Freak has confirmed that the game was hacked after leaked Pokémon content was published online.

This week saw an avalanche of source code, concept art, documents and pitch decks spanning over 25 years Pokemon story Leak on the Internet after a data hack by Pokémon developer Game Freak. After the data – which is still surfacing online at the time of writing – was leaked on social media platforms like Twitter/X and Reddit, Game Freak made this public a statement to confirm that it was hacked “by a third party” in August 2024.

The leaked data is unlike anything the franchise has ever seen, revealing early concept art and sprites for now-iconic Pokémon, as well as transcripts of meetings about them the end of Ash’s journey in the Pokemon anime, current progress on Pokemon Legends: Z/A, other future projects in the franchise and much more.

Massive Pokemon Leak Reveals Future Plans, Assets, Concept Art and More

Game Freak has confirmed that it was hacked, resulting in a truly unimaginable amount of the Pokémon game developer’s internal data being leaked online. Unfortunately, this leak is also said to contain the personal information of over 2,500 Game Freak employees, including their full names and contact information – potentially putting them at risk if the information becomes available online.

Twitter/X users like CentroLeaks And the PokeLeaks subreddit document the leak, while several in-game assets and documents spanning decades of Pokemon history make their way online. These assets include concept art for the original Pokemon anime, an explanation of how the world of Pokemon came to be, work-in-progress sprites from multiple Pokemon games, and more. Even builds of prototype versions of games like Pokemon X/Y and HeartGold/SoulSilver were found in the leak.

As for future plans, the full plot of a sequel to the Detective Pikachu film titled Detective Pikachu, which will be directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, has reportedly been leaked. However, at this point the project was either delayed or canceled. A trilogy of films set in this universe was planned, including a film called Game Boy, which would “delve deeply into the theme of Pokémon’s limitless potential and create a story that highlights the importance of bonds, whether between friends or between Pokémon themselves.” .”

Minutes of meetings between managers The Pokemon Company were also leaked and addressed the question of “why Ash’s story had to end in the anime.” Future plans for various Pokémon anime have also been leaked, including a possible time jump for Pokemon Horizons to age its protagonists, and an all-new 12-episode standalone series codenamed Reload, co-produced by Twin Engine. A 24th Pokémon film, Codenamed Farmer, was also in the works, but has apparently been postponed or canceled. It would have rebooted the film franchise to appeal to an adult audience, with a Kanto setting and Mew as the main protagonist.

As for the games, the source of Pokemon Legends: ZA has reportedly been leaked. The next 10th generation mainline Pokémon games are reportedly codenamed “Gaia” and are in development for the Nintendo Switch 2. Interestingly, the Switch 2 is also codenamed Ounce. Another multiplayer Splatoon-like Pokémon game was also mentioned in the leak.

The gigantic amount of content surfacing online as a result of this leak appears to be authentic judging by the level of detail and variety, but there is always the possibility that some of the information shared is false. Therefore, you should treat this information with caution. This is not the first time in recent years that a game developer has been affected by such a leak. Rockstar Games And Sleepless games were hit by similar leaks that led to the release of data for upcoming games Marvel’s Wolverine And GTA 6 on-line.