Nintendo allegedly hacked, with data stolen by hacking group 'Crimson Collective'

Hacking group Crimson Collective, which recently breached Red Hat and GitHub, now says it has successfully hacked Nintendo and stolen data.

Nintendo allegedly hacked, with data stolen by hacking group 'Crimson Collective'
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TL;DR: Reports indicate hacking group Crimson Collective breached Nintendo, stealing extensive data including manuals, development files, and backups. Cybersecurity firm Hackmanac verified the attack, raising concerns over potential leaks similar to past high-profile breaches. Nintendo has yet to respond, but may pursue discreet legal and law enforcement actions.

Although we're still waiting for an official response or acknowledgement from Nintendo, there are reports that the hacking group Crimson Collective has breached Nintendo and stolen data. Cybersecurity firm Hackmanac, which tracks and verifies cyber attacks, posted a screenshot on social media showcasing directories and folders from the group as proof of the successful hack.

The files and folders reportedly cover everything from manuals to administrative items, assets, development data, backups, and more. As of writing, the scale of the breach and whether it will become as high-profile as the Insomniac breach remain to be seen. This breach led to the leak of an early playable build of the studio's upcoming Marvel's Wolverine game, so hacked Nintendo data could include a lot of game-related stuff the company wouldn't want to see released.

Crimson Collective recently made a name for itself among hacking groups when it breached Red Hat's private GitHub repositories in September 2025, reportedly stealing 570GB of data, including sensitive information.

In that case, which Red Hat eventually confirmed, Crimson Collective first attempted to extort the company. It wasn't successful; however, if this Nintendo breach is true, Crimson Collective is likely trying to do the same thing - hold Nintendo's data for ransom. On that note, since Nintendo is a notoriously secretive company regarding its inner workings and becomes litigious over anything remotely related to its IP and brand, we might not hear about the outcome of this cybersecurity threat until after the fact. Odds are the Japanese gaming powerhouse will engage with the authorities (if it hasn't done so already) to resolve the matter quietly.