The Pokémon Company is moving forward in its attempt to find the identity of those who leaked the Pokémon Sword and Shield strategy guide ahead of the games’ releases.
A United States district court has granted The Pokémon Company the right to subpoena Discord and 4chan, allowing the company to take further actions against those who originally leaked Gigantamax forms and new species found in the strategy guide. This will compel those by law to appear in courts, either the leakers themselves or Discord or 4chan, to reveal the identity of users who were posting information about the game.
Contractors who work with The Pokémon Company on the strategy guide sign non-disclosure agreements, which legally prevents them from discussing the contents found within the book’s pages before the item releases for sale. The leakers will face a potential trial and sentence should they have been found to have broken an embargo.
The Pokémon Company originally filed the court case back at the end of November, claiming that the leaks did “irreparable injury” to the brand and is seeking compensatory damages, monetary relief, and more from all those who leaked information.
Pictures taken of the Sword and Shield guidebooks began surfacing a week before the games released in November. The images, which were first posted to Discord, included never-before-seen Gigantamax forms for Lapras and Machamp, as well as a few new species from the Galar region and their evolutions.
The full lawsuit can be found online.
