Pokemon is now the single highest-grossing media franchise, and it’s no surprise considering it is so all-encompassing. But on the flip side of when you have so many projects strewn across the media landscape is a bigger mess when there’s a leak. And it looks like that’s exactly what happened over the course of last week.
Game Freak, the developer of the Pokemon games, confirmed in a statement that it was indeed hacked, but the company discovered that it happened back in August. The statement also primarily served to address the leak of sensitive of employees, both current and former.
Leaks of the Pokemon IP look to have appeared following the statement, appearing in the usual spots that are Reddit and X. On the latter, one account that goes by @CentroLeaks looks to be covering what is being dubbed Teraleak. Info on the upcoming Pokemon Legends: Z-A, the 10th generation proper, as well as a Splatoon-like multiplayer game have been unveiled.
In the same vein is an upcoming movie that’s stuck in development hell which may be a Detective Pikachu sequel. Beyond movies, there’s also details of an original TV anime that runs the one-season length of 12 episodes separate from Pokemon Horizons.
SUMMARY OF EVERY LEAK RELATED TO FUTURE POKÉMON PROJECTS
[ Video games ]
Pokémon Legends: Z-A
– Originally planned to release in 2024
– Will feature Mega Zygarde, Mega Zeraora
– In development for current SwitchPokémon Gaia (codename)
– Gen 10
– Two versions: K and N… pic.twitter.com/rLxj6e0pv5— Centro LEAKS (@CentroLeaks) October 13, 2024
Looking in the other direction, beta character designs and source code from older games, including that of Heart Gold and Soul Silver, were also leaked. For now, neither The Pokemon Company nor the three companies under it have acknowledged the broad leak, at least publicly. For now, it remains to be seen what sort of effect this will have on the franchise’s immediate future.
(Source: X, Reddit, Game Freak [PDF, in Japanese])
