An unprecedented leak has hit mainline Pokemon series developer Game Freak, revealing tons of previously unknown information about unused monsters, unannounced projects, and a potential Switch 2 codename.
Game Freak acknowledged the situation in a statement posted to its website earlier this week, where the studio apologized to employees about potentially sensitive data being leaked by an unnamed third party, while confirming that it’s secured its servers and is currently working to strengthen its backend security.
For all of those just tuning in, we’re currently covering the Game Freak Teraleak.Lots of source files and beta content for past Pokémon games are currently leaking, along with a few details on upcoming projects.We expect more information to be uncovered in the coming hours… pic.twitter.com/KdoJ4G87SbOctober 12, 2024
Details from the leak, which is said to include gigabytes of information, are still spilling onto social media, however. Most notably, the entire source code for Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver are purportedly online, opening the floodgates for never-before-seen mods, alongside dozens of concept art showing early designs for beloved creatures and scrapped Pokemon that never made it across the finish line.
The leaks aren’t quite as exposing as the ones that hit Insomniac Games last year. The most information we have on the upcoming Pokemon Legends: Z-A is that it’s currently being tested, for example. Though, there are also supposedly mentions of Pokemon’s 10th Generation, codenamed Gaia, which is being tested for something called ‘Ounce,’ thought to be the codename for the Nintendo Switch 2.
One of the more interesting tidbits in the leaks is that there’s an unannounced game in development at Game Freak and ILCA, the studio that remade Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, which could be a multiplayer project of some sort. And finally, treatments and concept art for various live-action and anime films are out there, including one for a Detective Pokemon sequel, though some of those projects were slated to have come out already, so they may have either been shelved or scrapped entirely.