A Pokémon Sword dev build has leaked, revealing pre-release monsters and environments

A pre-release development build of Pokémon Sword has leaked online.

The playable Switch prototype – which is being actively circulated in the fan community – includes unfinished features and environments, and Pokémon that eventually did not make the cut for the final game.

According to one Twitter user with access to the leak, monsters featured in the pre-release build which didn’t make it into the final game include Beedrill, Ekans, Furforu and Aurorus, while the build’s title screen also features Mega Pokémon. It should be noted that only around 20 Pokémon are featured in the build, likely for testing purposes.

The leaked build is said to be from March 2018 and, beyond the identity of the cut Pokémon, reveals little beyond an insight into how the game was created.

Fans have been sharing screenshots of the leak overnight, while one fan even streamed it on Twitch.

The Pokémon series has been subject to a significant number of data leaks over the past two years, including debug roms for Pokémon Blue, Yellow, Gold and Silver, alongside source code, Spaceworld ’99 demos and an internal GameBoy PC emulator.

This summer detailed plans appeared online for an MMO-style Pokémon title for Game Boy Advance.

The “Online Pokémon Project” – as it’s referred to – was reportedly pitched as a standalone game for Game Boy Advance heavily based on Pokémon Fire Red and Leaf Green.

In July, a significant amount of classic Nintendo data leaked onto the internet, including early prototypes for games such as Yoshi’s Island, Star Fox, Super Mario 64 and Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

The leaks also reportedly contain internal documentation related to GameCube, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 64 (and its 64DD add-on), Wii and the China-only iQue, showing how the systems work and the development processes behind them.

The leaked content is possibly linked to a larger breach of legacy Nintendo data which was first reported in May.

The data is said to originate from a server hack related to BroadOn, a company Nintendo had contracted to develop Wii hardware and software.

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