A Japanese man who made a profit from generating and selling hacked Pokemon in Pokemon Sword and Shield was arrested in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. [Thanks, Game Watch.]
The culprit Kazuki Kawamatsu is an unemployed 23 years-old man living in Minami-ku, Nagoya. He jailbroke his Nintendo Switch in April 2020, which then allowed him to insert hacked Pokemon with any parameters, including Shiny and Pokerus, into Pokemon Sword and Shield.
Kawamatsu then offered his service to generate any Pokemon on a Japanese market site. A single Pokemon was priced at 500 yen, with an additional commission fee of 800 yen or 400 yen if someone ordered at least six Pokemon. Within almost a year, he made a profit of more than 1.15 million yen (~$10,900).
Kazuki Kawamatsu was arrested under Japan’s Unfair Competition Prevention Act after admitting the aforementioned conduct to the police. The news report also noted that this is the first time a person was arrested in Japan for modifying data in a Nintendo Switch game. Previously in October 2020, the U.S. arrested two members of Team Xecuter for making illegal profits by selling physical Nintendo Switch mods.
Japanese TV news programs also reported about this Pokemon-related arrest.
[tnm_video layout=”mnmd-post-media”]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RADo5TBN70[/tnm_video]
The arrest came after The Pokemon Company officially issued a warning in late January 2021 against people who use modified data in Pokemon Sword and Shield, as well as Pokemon Home. Those found utilizing modified data will have their network access restricted or even their entire access to Pokemon Home suspended.
Pokemon Sword and Shield are immediately available on Nintendo Switch worldwide.
