Yoshihiro Yamakawa, who resides in Uji, Kyoto, is now in the custody of the police. The man would have used a tool freely available on the internet which is used to alter the characteristics of Pokémon, making certain extremely rare and difficult to train monsters more accessible… and then sold at high prices. According to the Japanese press, between December 2022 and March 2023, he would have sold these monsters for up to 13,000 yen each, or around 80 euros each.
Illicit trade in pocket monsters
The sale of these modified Pokémon was carried out on an online platform dedicated to the marketing of game elements, where we can find announcements like “ 6 Pokémon for just $30 “. This activity was discovered thanks to the vigilance of the police cyber patrol, which caught Yamakawa taking orders online. He was arrested on charges of violating the Unfair Competition Prevention Act, a Japanese regulation intended to protect intellectual property rights and maintain fair competition.
In response to police questions, Yamakawa admitted to altering the data to “ earn a living », thus admitting the charges weighing on him. Investigators estimate that his activities may have earned him millions of yen, warranting further investigation into the extent of these illegal transactions.
This case is not isolated. A similar case was reported in 2021, concerning games Pokémon Sword and Shield. This pattern of violations highlights a larger problem of illegal data modification in popular video games, usually to circumvent developers’ intended gameplay processes. These practices not only harm the integrity of games, but they also disrupt the balance of online gameplay and cause financial losses to game creators and publishers.
The Association for the Protection of Computer Software Copyrights (ACCS) has stressed that data manipulation deteriorates the gaming experience and can distort the balance of online competitions. She also noted that items normally requiring purchase can be acquired without cost through these changes, causing economic losses for developers.
The ACCS calls on players to be aware of the illegality of using modified data and to stop resorting to such methods. But where there is demand, there will always be a market created…
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