Nintendo Confirms Pokemon Sword and Shield Leaker, Officially Cuts Ties

Nintendo has identified the website responsible for last fall's Pokemon Sword and Shield leaks and has announced that it will no longer worker with the site moving forward. Last November, a number of new Pokemon from Pokemon Sword and Shield were leaked onto Twitter and 4chan from an anonymous user. Given the timing of the leaks, it seemed likely that they came from a reviewer who was sent the games under an NDA. The Portuguese website FNintendo released a statement that one of their reviewers was responsible for the leaks and confirmed that they had broken NDA. Additionally, Nintendo and the Pokemon Company announced that as a result of the leaks, they would no longer with the website.

"In early November, Nintendo identified a number of photographs taken from game play that revealed multiple new and unannounced Pokemon from Pokemon Sword and Shield," the statement read. "These photographs had been posted online and Nintendo, together with the Pokemon Company, quickly identified the person responsible for these leaks, and took immediate action."

"These Pokemon were leaked by a reviewer fro the Portuguese website FNintendo, who had received an early copy of the game for review purposes. Both he and FNintendo failed to handle confidential material, resulting in a clear breach of the confidentiality agreement between Nintendo and the media outlet. As a result, Nintendo will no longer work with FNintendo." The statement also noted that Nintendo and the Pokemon Company would continue to pursue all avenues to preserve surprises for their players.

FNintendo stated that they had severed ties with the leaker, but acknowledged that the leaks had resulted in them no longer receiving products or invites to Nintendo events.

Nintendo and the Pokemon Company are also pursuing legal action against other leakers in the US who published photos of unannounced Gigantamax forms on 4Chan and DIscord, with legal action still ongoing.

(h/t VGC)