It's hard for video game developers to keep any secrets from the fans due to the sheer number of people who are required to work on any single project. It's almost impossible to prevent leaks from getting out these days, as all it takes is one perturbed employee or freelancer to spoil all of the surprise announce✃ments that were planned to promote an upcoming game.
Pokémon Sword & Shield has been the victim of a significant leak on 4chan, which has come to be known as the "Affleck Leak", due to the fact that the anonymous poster uploaded a picture of Ben Affleck along with several leaks about the upcoming games. The Affleck Leak was met with scrutiny at first, but each new trailer that was released for Pokémon Sword & Shield kept proving that it was legit.
The Affleck Leak revealed the identities of the new rivals, the name of the villain team, the rules for the Gym Challenge, the appearance of the cover Legendaries, the existence of Dynamaxing and Gigantamaxing, the fact that Meowth and Pikachu have Gigantamax forms, that Farfetc♎h'd would receive an evolution, the existence of the camping mechanic and the Wild Area, and the design of Cramorant, all well before they were officially announced.
The legitimacy of the Affleck Leak has all but been confirmed, yet there are still parts of it that have yet to be revealed in promotional materials for Pokémon Sword & Shield, even thoꦕugh they are due to be released in a few weeks. The remaining pieces of informꦆation in the leak are...
- There is a third Legendary Pokémon called Eternatus that is supposed to be evil.
- Lapras will receive a Gigantamax form that adds musical bars and notes to its shell.
- Meowth will either receive a Galar form or regional evolution that looks like a ball of spiky grey fur.
- There are two Pokémon based on chipmunks that will attack players if they search trees too often for berries. Their names are Skwovet and Greedunt.
- The fourth Gym Leader is an actress named Opal who specializes in Fairy-type Pokémon.
- There are special challenges that need to be completed in Gyms outside of battles. Milo's Gym has the player herding Wooloo with an Electric-type corgi Pokémon (which we now know is called Yamper), Nessa's Gym has a water maze, and a Gym Leader named Kabu will require the player to compete in a Pokémon catching contest with another trainer.
- Scorbunny will evolve into a Pokémon called Raboot. It will become a pure Fighting-type Pokémon. Its final form is humanoid in appearance.
- Sobble evolves into Sizzile and then Intelleon, which are chameleons with spy themes.
- Grooky's final form is a gorilla that beats a drum with a stick.
Pokémon Sword & Shield will be released in a few weeks, yet there is still a lot we don't know about the games. It seems that Game Freak wants to avoid repeating the mistakes that were made with Pokémon Sun & Moon, where the company revealed almost every secret about the games ไbeforehand and leaving no surprises for the player to find.
Pokémon Sword & Shield will be released for the Nintendo Switch on November 🦂15, 2019.