Google employee reportedly behind a number of leaked Nintendo announcements

A number of leaked Nintendo announcements originated from a Google employee who accessed private videos in the Switch maker’s YouTube account.

That’s according to 404 Media, which has obtained an internal Google database tracking thousands of potential privacy and security issues reported by employees between 2013 and 2018.

The include Google accidentally collecting voice data from children, leaking the journeys and home addresses of carpool users, and YouTube making recommendations based on videos users had deleted from their history.

In one case, a Google employee is said to have accessed private videos in Nintendo’s YouTube account, and leaked information ahead of the company’s planned announcements.

An internal interview came to the conclusion that the activity was “non-intentional,” according to the leaked report.

“At Google employees can quickly flag potential product issues for review by the relevant teams,” the company said in a statement to 404 Media. “When an employee submits the flag they suggest the priority level to the reviewer.

“The reports obtained by 404 are from over six years ago and are examples of these flags—every one was reviewed and resolved at that time. In some cases, these employee flags turned out not to be issues at all or were issues that employees found in third party services.”

Nintendo recently confirmed that it will announce its next console this fiscal year, meaning the Switch’s successor will be revealed before April 2025.