Nintendo has increased security following 2020's "gigaleak"

Super Mario 64
(Image credit: Nintendo)

Nintendo is taking a "variety of measures" to increase security following a massive leak nearly two years ago.

In 2020, you might recall a huge leak of source codes for Nintendo games, in what was dubbed the "gigaleak." Now, Nintendo claims it has stepped up security measures to prevent another leak like the previous one from occurring again in the future. 

"As part of our internal system for information security, we introduced the information security management system in 2017 and have set up our Information Security Committee", Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa stated at an internal shareholder meeting (as published on Nintendo's corporate website).

"Policies for information management have been established, and we have adopted both physical and technical countermeasures," the president continued. "In addition, we work to raise awareness of information security among our employees through training and other means."

At the time of the leak in July 2020, source code for a number of classic Nintendo games was published online, including Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and many others. Nintendo has never actually officially commented on the "gigaleak" until now, nearly two years later.

Also buried in the massive leak was a slate of unused assets for various games. For example, fans discovered an official model for Luigi in Super Mario 64 that was never used, as well as plans for a supposedly scrapped Pokemon MMO, which would've debuted for the Game Boy Advance in the early 2000s. Nintendo's new measures are clearly aimed at preventing another leak like this from occurring ever again.

Head over to our upcoming Switch games guide for a full look over everything coming to the console in the future. 

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.