The efforts of one Japanese hacker selling modified save data of Breath of the Wild ended up catching the attention of the law, leading to his arrest.
This started back in April, where one Tokyo resident, Ichimin Sho, posted a listing on an e-commerce site. This listing described him selling save data for Breath of the Wild. Sho would describe that this wasn't any normal save data, but in his words "the ultimate save data." This "ultimate save data" was a modified save of the game, where he would give the player boosted stats and abilities, as well as rare items and weapons in Breath of the Wild. These could all be adjusted upon the customer's request, and he was selling these saves for 3500 yen (or around $32).
While Sho did manage to attract buyers from outside of Tokyo, he also managed to unknowingly catch the attention of the Niigata Prefecture Police. They had arrested him on Thursday for the violation of the Japanese Unfair Competition Prevention Act. While the act of arresting him may seem to be unjustified, as Breath of the Wild is a single-player experience without any multiplayer components, the arrest was due to the method of progressing in the game.
Sho has admitted to the charges, stating that he had been selling save data as far back as December 2019, with a profit of 10 million yen. The date of the data being altered was done by an unidentified accomplice.
This started back in April, where one Tokyo resident, Ichimin Sho, posted a listing on an e-commerce site. This listing described him selling save data for Breath of the Wild. Sho would describe that this wasn't any normal save data, but in his words "the ultimate save data." This "ultimate save data" was a modified save of the game, where he would give the player boosted stats and abilities, as well as rare items and weapons in Breath of the Wild. These could all be adjusted upon the customer's request, and he was selling these saves for 3500 yen (or around $32).
While Sho did manage to attract buyers from outside of Tokyo, he also managed to unknowingly catch the attention of the Niigata Prefecture Police. They had arrested him on Thursday for the violation of the Japanese Unfair Competition Prevention Act. While the act of arresting him may seem to be unjustified, as Breath of the Wild is a single-player experience without any multiplayer components, the arrest was due to the method of progressing in the game.
Sho has admitted to the charges, stating that he had been selling save data as far back as December 2019, with a profit of 10 million yen. The date of the data being altered was done by an unidentified accomplice.
