Nintendo seeks court approval to issue a subpoena to Discord in order to uncover the identity of a Pokémon leaker

Nintendo of America is pursuing a legal route through a subpoena to force online platform Discord to identify the individual responsible for the Pokémon 'teraleak' incident in October 2024.

Based on legal documents accessed by Polygon, Nintendo's action aims to discover the person behind the leaks. The subpoena mentions a Discord user, GameFreakOUT, accused of posting "confidential materials unreleased to the public" within the FreakLeak server.

The legal filing was made on April 18, 2025, in San Francisco's district court, with the firm Mitchell Silberberg and Knupp LLP handling the case under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Attorney James D. Berkley's statement explains that the subpoena is intended to compel Discord to provide the name, address, phone number, and email of GameFreakOUT.

In the previous October, a data breach at developer Game Freak exposed information for over 2,000 employees, occurring just before substantial Pokémon-related leaks appeared on social media platforms.

The 'teraleak' included extensive details about various Pokémon games, including future projects and the DS titles Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver's source code.

The subpoena request claims that "The Content infringes NOA's exclusive rights under copyright law," specifically addressing the unauthorized release of artworks, characters, and other elements from the Pokémon franchise, particularly citing Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

In addition to the subpoena request, an exhibit featuring a partially redacted Discord screenshot with messages from the alleged user is included.