Nintendo Intensifies Efforts to Combat Switch Piracy

Nintendo isn’t holding back in its quest to crack down on Switch users and modders linked to piracy. According to a recent federal court filing, the company is on the hunt for more individuals to target in its ongoing legal pursuits. This latest action follows their lawsuit against a notorious Switch modder accused of distributing piracy tools for the console.

Nintendo’s determined push to safeguard its intellectual property is nothing new, leveraging the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to dismantle leaks and websites offering unauthorized ROMs and emulators of its games and systems. Earlier this year, Nintendo reached a $2.4 million settlement with Tropic Haze, the developers behind the Yuzu Switch emulator. This agreement led to the removal of the Yuzu project from various code repositories. Despite the project’s end, Tropic Haze maintained its firm stand against game piracy.

In what’s turning out to be an eventful year for Nintendo’s legal team, the company is aiming to issue even more legal notices. Court documents from Washington State, backed by insights from Stephen Totilo of Game File, reveal that Nintendo is pursuing more individuals following a probe into a known Switch pirate. After successfully tracking down and suing James “Archbox” Williams, Nintendo turned its attention to the SwitchPirates subreddit, where Williams had been a moderator. This subreddit boasts over 216,000 registered members. The company previously secured a default judgment against Williams when he opted not to defend himself in court. Now, Nintendo seeks judicial approval to subpoena records from Reddit, Discord, GitHub, Cloudflare, Google, and domain hosts like GoDaddy, Namecheap, and Tucows in order to identify Williams’ suspected collaborators.

Back in June 2024, Nintendo launched an additional lawsuit against Modded Hardware. This company was found to be selling MIG Switch devices along with mods that often contained pirated Nintendo games. Despite receiving a cease and desist order in March 2024, Modded Hardware’s leader, Ryan Daly, continued to sell these devices until the lawsuit proceedings began.

With several court victories under its belt, Nintendo has made it abundantly clear that piracy of its properties will not be tolerated. As anticipation builds for the debut of the Switch’s next generation, it remains to be seen how Nintendo’s legal strategies will evolve.