Back in 2019, before Pokemon Sword and Shield released, a lot of information about the games leaked online. Photos taken of an unreleased strategy guide were shared across the Internet, spoiling a good chunk of the games' content, such as unique Gigantamax forms for certain Pokemon. Unsurprisingly, The Pokemon Company wasn't thrilled with these leaks and stated that it intended to track down the leakers responsible and sue them.

As of this month, said lawsuit has been wrapped up. According to court documents shared by Polygon, the two defendants, Bryan Garcia Cruz and David Andino Maisonave, have agreed to settle with The Pokemon Company and must now pay $150,000 each in damages and attorney fees.

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The documents state that Maisonave, as an employee of the company hired to print the Pokemon Sword and Shield guide, took pictures which he then shared with a friend. That friend went on to share the pictures in a group chat which included Cruz, and it was Cruz who went on to post the pictures online.

As it turns out, the leaks ultimately didn't really impact the game's sales as Sword and Shield went on to become the best-selling entries in the entire franchise. Regardless, The Pokemon Company treats the leak as theft of trade secrets. Plus, the leaks contributed to the backlash from a portion of the fan-base who were upset with certain decisions (such as the removal of numerous Pokemon) and even believed the leaks were proof of Game Freak and The Pokemon Company lying about the games.

It should be noted as well that, while $150,000 is a lot of money, it could potentially have been a lot more had the defendants not agreed to a settlement. The whole thing will likely serve as a cautionary tale for anyone possibly thinking of leaking information like this on future Pokemon games, especially with the Diamond and Pearl remakes releasing later this year, followed by Pokemon Legends: Arceus in January 2022.

It's no surprise that The Pokemon Company went to great lengths to track down the leakers and demand recompense. After all, Nintendo has also regularly proven that it doesn't tolerate any form of piracy lightly, having filed multiple lawsuits against people who create hacking devices for the Nintendo Switch. Earlier this month, the publisher also won a lawsuit against a now-removed emulation site, with its owner having to pay up $2 million. And that's still less than what Nintendo was initially gunning for.

Pokemon Sword and Shield are available for Nintendo Switch.

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Source: Polygon, CourtListener