Pokemon Legends Arceus gameplay and map leaks thanks to retail copy

News
By published

One player has already got their hands on Arceus a week early

The key art for Pokemon Legends Arceus
(Image credit: The Pokemon Company)

A Pokemon Legends Arceus copy has already made its way into the hands of a player, and the leaks are coming.

Yesterday, the PokeLeaks subreddit became a hive of activity, when users began reporting that someone had received a copy of Pokemon Legends Arceus early. Right now, if you head over to the subreddit, you'll find a number of posts revealing in-game screenshots, the game's title screen, and much more besides. 

In one particular post on the subreddit, we can even see the map screen for Pokemon Legends Arceus. We can see the player character being introduced to the way the game's world functions through a tutorial screen, as well as what we can only assume must be an early in-game quest, as they're tasked to familiarise themselves with this new world.

In fact, there's even leaked gameplay footage doing the rounds on Twitter. As you can see in the tweet below, actual gameplay of Pokemon Legends Arceus has made its way online, and we can see a trainer running around in what looks to be an introductory battle in the Hisui region, while periodically commanding their Pokemon to duke it out with a rival.

This is a pretty significant leak for Nintendo's new game, all things considered. The fact that we've already seen the title screen, screenshots, and even gameplay less than 24 hours after the first copy broke the street date means there's surely more leaks for Pokemon Legends Arceus to come over the next week or so.

In fact, leaked copies have even appeared on eBay. Earlier today, copies of Pokemon Legends Arceus appeared on the reselling website, with one in particular retailing for over $70. Perhaps it's not just a case of a few copies having broken the street date, as we originally thought.

There's still over a week to go until Pokemon Legends Arceus is actually due to release. The new action-RPG isn't due to launch until next Friday on January 28, but it's looking like we'll have plenty more details leaked online over the coming days. If you're particularly cautious about spoilers for Arceus, you'll want to be extra vigilant online.

Check out our early Pokemon Legends Arceus preview for what we've got to look forward to in the new game.

Hirun Cryer
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.