Nintendo Seeks Discord User Data in TeraLeak Probe

Nintendo is actively pursuing legal action in a California court, seeking a subpoena that, if granted, would compel Discord to disclose the identity of the individual behind last year's significant Pokemon leak, dubbed the "FreakLeak" or "TeraLeak." According to court documents reported by Polygon, Nintendo aims to obtain the name, address, phone number, and email address of the Discord user known as "GameFreakOUT." This user is accused of posting copyrighted materials, including artwork, characters, source code, and other Pokemon-related content to a Discord server named "FreakLeak" last October, which subsequently spread across the internet.

Although not officially confirmed, the leaked materials are believed to have originated from a data breach disclosed by Game Freak in October, following the breach in August. Game Freak reported that the breach compromised the names of 2,606 current, former, and contract employees. Interestingly, the leaked files surfaced online on October 12, and Game Freak's statement, backdated to October 10, appeared the following day, focusing solely on the employee data breach without mentioning any confidential company materials.

The leaked content revealed several unannounced projects, including cut content, early builds of other Pokemon games, and background information. Notably, the leak disclosed details about "Pokemon Champions," an upcoming battle-centric game announced in February, and provided accurate information about "Pokemon Legends: Z-A," alongside unverified details about the next Pokemon generation, source code for various DS Pokemon titles, meeting summaries, and excised lore from "Pokemon Legends: Arceus" and other titles.

While Nintendo has not yet initiated legal proceedings against any hacker or leaker, the pursuit of this subpoena suggests an intent to identify and possibly sue the person responsible. Given Nintendo's history of stringent legal actions against piracy and patent infringement, a successful subpoena might lead to further legal action in the near future.