Nintendo confirms 160,000 accounts affected by hackers

Up to 160,000 Nintendo accounts have been accessed by hackers, the company has confirmed. 

After Nintendo previously stated they were investigating reports from players over hacked accounts, the company is now taking measures to protect players after confirming the cases. 

In a statement on Nintendo’s Japanese support site, they confirmed 160,000 accounts may have received unauthorised access - with nicknames, date of birth, country/region and email addresses potentially viewable by a third party. 

The site states no credit card information has so far been accessed. 

The issue is connected to Nintendo Network ID’s log-in system, with usernames and passwords "obtained illegally by some other means outside our service" from the beginning of April. 

Nintendo has now abolished the ability to log-in via Nintendo Network ID, with players to be contacted about resetting passwords for NNID. 

They’re also encouraging players to enable two-step verification on your Nintendo Account. You can find out how to do so here. 

“We apologise for the inconvenience and concerns caused to our customers, and we will continue working hard to safeguard the security of our users’ data,” Nintendo states.

Considering the issue stems back to the beginning of April, it's surprising Nintendo hadn't picked up on the breach sooner. For now, we recommend you reset your password and enable two-step verification to ensure your account is protected.