Massive leak of Netflix's future catalog puts the company in an embarrassing position
⬤ Netflix has been subjected to a major leak that included its future works of the "anime" genre that will be released this year.
⬤ The leaks were characterized by their low quality, with time stamps and watermarks that suggest the source was Japan.
⬤ The leaked content appeared on the hacking sites, and the company quickly admitted the incident and said it was investigating its origin.
In a unique incident, Netflix was hit by a major security breach that leaked the content of a number of highly anticipated anime this year, including Dandadan, a remake of the Ranma 1/2 series, the new Terminator Zero movie, and possibly more.
Anime News Network was the first to reveal the leak, with episodes of the works beginning to appear online on August 6. Short clips of them went viral on social media platforms, while full episodes found their way into hacking platforms and websites. It is not yet known how many Netflix series and movies have been leaked.
The leaked versions are of low quality, and contain watermarks and timestamps affixed to the scenes, indicating that they originate from the pre-final production stage.
The exact source of the leak has not yet been confirmed, but it is believed that the culprit is someone who works for Netflix in Japan, especially with episodes appearing only in Japanese without subtitles or dubbing. This can be linked to the leak of the first episode of the third season of the Re: ZERO – Starting Life in Another World series, in which the watermarks that appeared indicate that they were leaked during the Japan Expo 2024 that took place last July in Japan.
For its part, the anime fan community reacted clearly to these leaks, noting that it is a major event and will have prominent consequences and effects. One described it as "perhaps the biggest leak disaster in anime history." Followers have also noted that it is not a random or absurd incident at all, compared to the size and importance of the leaked content, as it concerns a group of the largest and largest works coming this year.
In turn, Netflix rushed to respond to the incident from day one, and has remained silent for the past two days, so that one of the company's spokesmen came out in a statement to TheWrap magazine on Thursday, acknowledging the leak, and pointing to the company's team taking "very strong" measures to thwart the leak.