Nintendo issued a subpoena request to a California court that, if approved, would require Discord to provide Nintendo the identity of the Pokemon Teraleaker. “Teraleak” is the moniker Pokemon fans gave to the massive leak from October 2024 that reportedly included not just information about Game Freak and The Pokemon Company’s upcoming projects, such as Pokemon Legends: Z-A, but personal information about Game Freak employees as well. The leak also included data from past Pokemon games, including concept art and scrapped designs.
Nintendo owns approximately 33 percent of Pokemon, with Game Freak and The Pokemon Company owning the other two-thirds.
Polygon obtained a copy of Nintendo’s court filing, which shows the company requested the leaker’s name, address, phone number, and email address. Nintendo also provided redacted images taken from a Discord server called FreakLeak, where the leaker, who went by GameFreakOUT on the platform, posted 1 terabyte of information taken from Game Freak’s internal servers. The image Nintendo provided in the court filing showed GameFreakOUT posting a file containing the leaked data and a message telling the group’s members to “Enjoy.”
Nintendo issued DMCA takedown notices in an attempt to remove the stolen data, though it remains publicly available online. While the company hasn’t indicated an intent to sue the Pokemon leaker, Nintendo has a history of seeking litigation against those whose actions it perceives as a business threat.
Gary Bowser, for example, was arrested on federal charges of fraud for his part in creating and selling tools to hack video game consoles, including the Nintendo Switch, so people could play games on their devices without paying for them. Bowser was released from prison, but owes Nintendo $10 million in compensation and has 25 percent of his monthly income garnished to pay the settlement.