Pokemon developer Game Freak confirms major leak and reveals future projects

^{Image: The Pokemon Company}

Pokemon game developer Game Freak has confirmed it has been hacked, after releasing leaked Pokemon assets online.

This week there has been an avalanche of source code, concept art, documents and pitch decks from over 25 years of experience Pokemon History leaks online, following a data hack by Pokemon developer Game Freak. After the data – which is still appearing online at the time of writing – was leaked on social media platforms such as Twitter/X and Reddit, Game Freak released a statement to confirm that it had been hacked “by a third party” in August 2024.

The leaked data is unlike anything the franchise has ever seen, revealing early concept art and sprites for now-iconic Pokemon, meeting transcripts about thus ending Ash’s journey in the Pokemon anime, current progress Pokemon Legends: S/A, other future projects in the franchise and much more.

Massive Pokemon Leak Reveals Future Plans, Assets, Concept Art, and More

Game Freak has confirmed that it has been hacked, leading to a truly unfathomable amount of the Pokemon game developer’s internal data being leaked online. Unfortunately, this breach would also include the personal information of more than 2,500 Game Freak employees, complete with their full names and contact details – potentially putting them at risk if the information became available online.

Twitter/X users like it CentroLeaks And the PokeLeaks subreddit document the leak, as multiple in-game assets and documents from decades of Pokemon history make their way online. Some of these assets include concept art for the original Pokemon anime, an explanation of how the world of Pokemon was created, work-in-progress sprites from various Pokemon games, and more. Even builds of prototype versions of games like Pokemon X/Y and HeartGold/SoulSilver have been found in the leak.

As for future plans, the entire storyline of a sequel to the Detective Pikachu movie titled ‘The Great Detective Pikachu’ has reportedly been leaked, with Jordan Vogt-Roberts set to direct. However, the project has currently been postponed or canceled. A trilogy of films set in this universe was planned, including a film called Game Boy that “aims to delve deep into the theme of Pokémon’s limitless potential and create a story that emphasizes the importance of bonds, whether between friends or between Pokémon.”

Minutes of meetings between managers The Pokemon Company have also been leaked and dive into “why Ash’s story had to end in the anime.” Future plans for several Pokemon anime have also been leaked, including a possible timeskip for Pokémon Horizons to age out the main characters and an all-new 12-episode standalone series codenamed Reload, co-produced by Twin Engine. A 24th Pokemon movie codenamed Bauer was also in the works, but has apparently been postponed or canceled. It would have rebooted the film franchise to connect with an adult audience, with a Kanto setting and Mew as Legendary.

As for the games, the source of Pokemon Legends: ZA has reportedly been leaked. The next Gen 10 Pokemon games are reportedly codenamed ‘Gaia’ and are in development for the Nintendo Switch 2. Interestingly enough, the Switch 2 is also codenamed Ounce. Another multiplayer Splatoon-like Pokemon game was also mentioned in the leak.

The massive amount of content emerging from this leak online appears authentic judging by the level of detail and variety, but there is always a chance that some of the information being shared is false. Therefore, you should take this information with a grain of salt. This isn’t the first time a game developer has faced such a leak in recent years. Rockstar Games And Sleepless games were hit by similar leaks, leading to the release of data from upcoming games such as Marvel’s Wolverine And GTA6 online.