Nintendo seeks court order to subpoena Discord for identity of Pokémon leaker

Nintendo of America is pursuing legal action via a subpoena to unearth the identity of the individual responsible for the Pokémon 'teraleak' incident in October 2024. This step involves enlisting the help of Discord, as detailed in documentation accessed by Polygon.

The subpoena is directed toward Discord user GameFreakOUT, accused of distributing "confidential materials". These were reportedly shared on a server named FreakLeak. The legal filing was presented in the district court of San Francisco on April 18, 2025, by Nintendo's legal representatives, Mitchell Silberberg and Knupp LLP, under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

An official statement from attorney James D. Berkley reveals that the subpoena aims to compel Discord to provide personal information about GameFreakOut, including their identity, name, address, phone number, and email address.

In October last year, Game Freak announced a data breach impacting over 2,000 employees, occurring in August 2024. This event was followed by the substantial online leak of Pokémon-related information.

The 'teraleak' incident involved the leakage of extensive data regarding past, present, and upcoming Pokémon games, notably containing source code for Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver on the DS platform.

The legal request states, "The Content infringes NOA's exclusive rights under copyright law," emphasizing its infringement on Nintendo's rights over artwork, characters, and various materials connected to Pokémon, including titles like Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

Included with Nintendo's filing is an exhibit showing a partly redacted Discord screenshot featuring messages from the accused user.