HIBP links to this article which shows the history of the term before any of these games: https://www.inverse.com/gaming/pwned-meaning-definition-orig...
The one tangible instance mentioned is the Spice Girls hack — but follow the link to discover they didn't even use pwn, but 0wned!
I tried searching a few pre-00s bbs/usenet archives but could only find a couple of gaming-related instances. [1][2]
It'd be pretty interesting to see some hacking groups usage in the 80-90s. Maybe someone with better access to archives could see some trends?
[1] https://groups.google.com/g/alt.games.everquest/c/GN9tm8Esrw...
[2] https://groups.google.com/g/rec.games.computer.ultima.online...