A massive spill of data from Game Freak, the developer behind the Pokémon franchise, has been revealed to contain source code, concept art, and over 25 years of internal files.The data breach dubbed "Teraleak" contains a ton of stolen data, including the following: Developer build of Pokémon Black/WhiteOld tech demosUnreleased gamesTest builds for Pokémon GoDocuments for canceled and upcoming moviesConcept artTechnical documents'The Pokémon brand is still really strong.'Game Freak has confirmed the hack in a Japanese document; which, when translated, reveals that the names and company email addresses of over 2,600 employees, contract workers, and former employees were exposed."Our company has discovered that personal information of our employees and others was leaked in connection with unauthorized access to our servers by a third party in August 2024," Game Freak wrote."We are contacting the affected employees individually."The company added, "We have already rebuilt and re-inspected the server and will strive to prevent recurrence by further strengthening our security measures." Then, it linked to a response form.John F. Trent, editor for gaming and culture site That Park Place, said, "in the short term there might be some negative repercussions, but in the long run the Pokemon brand is still really strong."Trent pointed to the brand's continuing to "kneecap" itself by embracing a woke ideology and said it may result in the company becoming an "enemy of the audience" it is trying to sell to.What is becoming increasingly apparent, however, is how hacking culture and cybersecurity have become self-sustaining industries. Mysterious hacks and data dumps occur, and cyber security companies with shady connections jump at the chance to rescue the affected party.In an interview about the 2014 Sony Pictures hack, researcher Ken Heckenlively referred to cybersecurity agencies as being “like bounty hunters" who all want to play heroes for big tech companies.This mirrors the circumstances surrounding CrowdStrike, which made headlines during the 2016 federal electoral campaign.The cyber-security firm was called upon to investigate the alleged hacks of the DNC despite being responsible for the party's cyber security already, essentially investigating itself.CrowdStrike, which sparked a worldwide systems crash in August, was later revealed to have connections to the World Economic Forum, massive investment firm Vanguard, and intelligence agencies. The company even hired a former deputy assistant director of the FBI Cyber Division.While data leaks for gaming companies are nothing new — see the PlayStation Network Outage of 2011 and Nintendo's 2018 data leak — it has become a necessity in recent years to examine all parties involved in the clean-up crew.Competing industry or disgruntled employees are typically the leading suspects, and it seems appropriate to now ask: Who stands benefit from a data dump about Pokemon games?Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Starfield Shattered Space promised to usher in a new phase for Bethesda’s beleaguered space RPG. It was to be a moment to reflect on everything the developer had learned since launch, showing real improvement in areas fans were unhappy about. For a while it looked like the dream was coming true as Starfield’s player count shot back up -  not to the highs it launched to, but nearly enough to threaten Skyrim’s numbers. That threat has now ended, as Starfield’s player count on Steam has gone spiraling back down to Earth. Continue reading Starfield Steam numbers slip back down following Shattered Space launch MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Starfield mods, Best RPGs, Best space games

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Unknown Worlds and KRAFTON, Inc. have officially unveiled Subnautica 2, the next game in the beloved open-water survival series. Filled with mystery and wonder, Subnautica 2 will launch in 2025 via Early Access on Steam, Epic Games Store, and Windows Store and via Game Preview on Xbox Series X|S with Xbox Game Pass.