Nintendo subpoenas Discord over Pokemon leaker

Nintendo is seeking a court order in California that would require Discord to disclose identifying information about the individual behind last year's massive Pokemon leak, referred to as "FreakLeak" or "TeraLeak."

Court documents obtained by Polygon reveal that Nintendo aims to compel Discord to provide the full name, physical address, phone number, and email address associated with the Discord user "GameFreakOUT." In October of last year, this user allegedly shared copyrighted Pokemon artwork, character designs, source code, and other proprietary materials on a Discord server labeled "FreakLeak," leading to their widespread online dissemination.

Though unconfirmed, these files likely originated from an August data breach at Game Freak, which the company acknowledged in October. According to their statement, the breach exposed the names of 2,606 current, former, and contract employees. Notably, the leaked files emerged online on October 12, while Game Freak's public notice appeared the following day—despite being dated October 10. The statement omitted any mention of confidential company assets beyond employee data.

The leaked content included details on unannounced projects, scrapped material, development documents, and early builds of unreleased Pokemon games. Among the revelations were details about Pokemon Champions, a battle-centric game later officially announced in February, and accurate information on Pokemon Legends: Z-A. The leak also contained unverified details about the next-generation Pokemon games, source code for several Nintendo DS-era Pokemon titles, internal meeting notes, and removed story elements from Pokemon Legends: Arceus and other titles.

While Nintendo has yet to file a lawsuit against the alleged leaker, the subpoena suggests the company is actively pursuing their identity. Known for its aggressive legal stance against piracy and intellectual property violations, Nintendo may take further action if Discord complies with the court's order.