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Japanese Man Arrested For Pokemon Hacking

hacked sobble
Nintendo is cracking down hardcore!

According to Japanese site Asashi, a 23 year old man residing in Nagoya, was arrested for hacking his Nintendo Switch and altering save date in Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield. The man was creating Shiny Sobble using 3rd party software and selling each one for about 4,400 yen (approx $42 USD). In total he made 1.15 million yen ($11,000 USD) from this and other similar transactions.

Hacking a game console is illegal in Japan due to violating Japan’s Unfair Competition Prevention Act (UCPA) which states it’s illegal to alter save data and sell these modifications. Hacking Pokemon has been a major issue in the games recent history since the spread of these “Hackmon” is so convenient due to features such as Surprise Trade and the Global Trading System.

It has met with much backlash as an unsuspecting player may receive a Hackmon without knowing of it’s origins and try to use it in online competitions, where the games hack-check system will not allow the use of the fake Pokemon. This could result in the player receiving a ban or suspension for activity that was not there fault in the first place.

Recently, Nintendo issued a massive ban wave that saw many players restricted from online play and in some cases, legal action against them for distributing known Hackmon. If you own a Pokemon that was hacked, you don’t need to worry, this is not going to get you in trouble. But if you are unsure of the origins of the Pokemon, please refrain from using it in online competitions.

See you around, Genesect!


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