Game Freak confirms massive data leak for over 2600 employees and contractors

The Pokémon developer revealed that personal details of thousands of workers have been compromised

Game Freak

Pokémon developer Game Freak has revealed that it has suffered from a data breach that has resulted in the breach of personal information for thousands of employees and contractors. 

In a notice (PDF) issued on October 10, 2024, Game Freak revealed that an unauthorized party accessed its servers in August 2024 and accessed the personal information of employees and contractors. The breach saw the personal data of at least 2600 current and former workers stolen and leaked, including their names and company email addresses, among other data. 

The company says it will be contacting employees individually, and any who cannot be contacted will be able to contact a hotline set up to handle inquiries. It also says that the servers that were affected have been inspected and rebuilt, and that further security measures will be implemented to prevent it from happening in the future. 

The news comes during an alleged leak of Game Freak information, including development resources, beta details, and more. Huge swathes of apparently leaked data have been made available online on social media sites and forums. Neither Game Freak or Nintendo have commented on the apparent leaks, and at this stage has not been confirmed to be real. 

Game Freak is best known for its development of the main-series Pokémon games, having acted as the primary developer on every title in the series except Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, which were developed by ILCA with supervision from Game Freak. The company has about 200 permanent employees, but contracts thousands of additional workers for work on games like Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, the best game that barely works. 

The developer doesn’t only work on Pokémon, having worked on a number of smaller titles outside of the series, some of which are available on other consoles and platforms. Indeed, Game Freak is working on a non-Pokémon action-adventure game right now alongside Private Division, a subsidiary of Take-Two that focuses on independent games.