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Man faces five years in jail for selling hacked Pokémon in Japan-Adam Starkey-Entertainment – Metro
Japanese police have arrested a man on suspicion of selling modified save data for Pokémon Scarlet & Violet, in what is considered an illegal act in the country.
Is terastallized Charizard a hack? (Picture: Nintendo)
Japanese police have arrested a man on suspicion of selling modified save data for Pokémon Scarlet & Violet, in what is considered an illegal act in the country.
A 36-year-old man is facing fines and a potential prison sentence after selling modified versions of pokémon to other players.
Japanese police arrested the man on April 9 last week, after they discovered evidence that he had been using special tools to illegally modify save data for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, in order to change pokémon stats and movesets.
It’s claimed the individual sold the hacked monsters on a website for up to 13,000 yen (around £68), and also offered deals where you could buy six modified Pokémon for roughly £24.
As reported by NHK News and translated by Automaton, police believe the hacked pokémon were sold between December 2022 and March 2023, and that the total profit from the illegal sales could amount to ‘millions of yen’ (so, thousands of pounds).
The act of editing save data and selling it is in violation of Japan’s Unfair Competition Prevention Act, which was introduced in 2019. According to the act, the man could face fines of up to 5 million yen (£26,000) and up to five years in prison.
According to reports, the man has admitted to the charges and said he ‘did it to earn a living’, but police investigations are still underway.
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While Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are known for being especially strict when it comes to protecting its intellectual property, it’s rare to see such matters lead to police involvement. Although there’s no indication they were involved directly in this case.
Historically, crimes connected to Pokémon usually relate to Pokémon cards being stolen from shops. Earlier this year, thieves stole nearly 35,000 Pokémon cards in a California store heist, which were believed to have been worth tens of thousands of dollars.
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