Nintendo Issues Official Statement After Internal Data Breach, Hackers Demand $2 Million?

Liputan6.com, Jakarta - A hacker group called ShadowByte$ claims to have stolen approximately 859MB of internal data from Nintendo, demanding a ransom of $2 million to prevent the information from being released.

This claim surfaced on June 13, 2026, first on a cybercrime forum and later confirmed by the threat intelligence platform Hackmanac.

This security breach reportedly targeted TINYpulse, a third-party service used by Nintendo of America (NOA) for internal employee surveys.

This tactic of attacking third-party programs, rather than the company's core systems, is a common method used by ransomware groups.

While Nintendo of America (NOA) has responded to the claim, stating that its core systems were not compromised, this incident highlights the growing security risks of third-party business applications that store sensitive company and workforce data.

Rumor: Nintendo hit with data breach, hacker steals 859MB of data via TINYpulse https://t.co/MeeXNnHXvQ pic.twitter.com/25hEDnnYYA

— Nintendo Everything (@NinEverything) June 15, 2026

The ShadowByte$ group, also known as SHADOWBYT3$, claims to have gained access to various internal Nintendo employee information.

The stolen data, totaling approximately 859MB, allegedly includes employee names, company email addresses, and workforce survey results and workplace feedback.

Additionally, the hackers claim to have internal reports, planning documents, organizational performance metrics, analytics, employee progress reports, and sensitive financial and tax details, such as PDFs of bank statements and W-9 forms.

This data reportedly covers a ten-year period, from 2016 to 2026.

Researchers from Cybernews who reviewed samples of the leaked data stated that some of the material appears credible.

They found employee engagement surveys and workplace feedback records dating back to 2016, supporting the hackers' claims regarding the timeframe of the stolen data.

References to individuals still employed by Nintendo were also found, adding credibility to some of the data set.

The metadata of some of the exported files shows a creation date of January 28, 2026, indicating that some records may have been recently accessed or exported.

In response to the data breach claims, Nintendo of America (NOA) issued an official statement.

"We are aware of an issue involving TinyPulse, a third-party service used for internal employee surveys at Nintendo of America. Nintendo’s systems have not been compromised, and no personal customer or financial data has been accessed. The data involved is limited to internal survey content comprising a small subset of our employees, and most of the information dates back several years. We appreciate our employees’ willingness to share their perspectives, take all feedback seriously, and take action when needed. We are working with the service provider to address the issue."

Nintendo confirmed that its core systems were not compromised by ShadowByt3$, and no consumer or personal financial data was affected.