Nintendo has launched a legal hunt after a Discord user allegedly leaked images of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomthe art book.
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will be released on May 12, and so far Nintendo has been like a locked box regarding the details of this highly anticipated next installment. However, despite the publisher’s best efforts, a Discord user has reportedly posted art book images for this upcoming Zelda title, ruining one of Nintendo’s best-kept secrets.
The artbook contains information and images of everything players can find in the valleys and mountains of Hyrulean’s next adventure. Obviously, Nintendo wanted players to uncover all of these mysteries naturally while playing the game, rather than artificially through a leak.
In retaliation for the privacy breach, Nintendo is now seeking the identity of the leaker. Given that the leak originated on Discord, “Nintendo of America requests the attached proposed subpoena that would order Discord Inc. (“Discord”) to release the identity, including name(s) , address(es), phone number(s), and email address(es) of user Julien#2743, who is responsible for posting infringing content that appeared on the following Discord channel Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomsaid Nintendo of America in the subpoena request.
Pandora’s box
Although there is still a lot about tears of the kingdom which remains terribly unknown, Nintendo has gradually shown fans what this new title has to offer over the past few months.
In a 13-minute gameplay demo on Youtube (opens in a new tab)Legend of Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma shared this work on tears of the kingdom is complete, as well as exciting game sequences.
Throughout the walkthrough, Aonuma outlined what’s new in this upcoming title and how players can interact with the vast open world. A unique feature is Link’s recall ability; allowing players to go back in time for particular items. The gameplay video shows Aonuma using this power to reach some of the Sky Islands.
Additionally, there is also a fantastic new ability called Fuse, which allows players to combine items to create unique weapons with different strengths. It looks like there are a ton of new features to enjoy in tears of the kingdomso if you haven’t seen the leaks yet, it’s probably best to avoid them for maximum fun and mystery.
Same problem, different leak
This isn’t the first time Discord has been at the center of a Nintendo leak. In 2019, former employees took photos of the then-unreleased title Pokémon Sword and Shield and shared them on social media platforms like Reddit and Discord.
These photos represented the details of the strategy guide, which included new features such as the Gigantamax forms of certain Pokémon. As you can probably guess, Nintendo wasn’t too fond of this breach of trust and sued leakers (opens in a new tab)each defendant paying $150,000 in damages.
It is more than likely that the tears of the kingdom The leaker will suffer the same fate. While the art book leaks aren’t the most upsetting leaks, Nintendo will likely want to take legal action as a preemptive measure to deter potential future leakers. Disclosure of video game information tends to cause more harm than good. It’s better to wait for the release date like everyone else than to jump in and spoil the thrilling mysteries hidden in the new releases.