Nintendo is no stranger to lawsuits these days, and it’s filed two more, as reported Tuesday. One is against the owner of a company who allegedly sold modded Switches, while the other concerns the moderator of a subreddit where users could learn how to play pirated games.
According to TorrentFreak, which had copies of both complaints filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, Nintendo is suing Modded Hardware and its owner, Ryan “Homebrew Homie” Daly, for selling Mod Chips, modded Switch consoles, and a memory card that lets people play pirated games. Nintendo’s lawyer wrote in the suit that this caused “substantial and irreparable” harm to the console giant. It’s seeking damages for copyright infringement, along with other charges such as “trafficking in circumvention devices.”
“Defendant’s products and services not only deprive Nintendo and its licensees of revenue from the sales of lawful copies of Nintendo games but also foster and encourage the illegal distribution of pirated Nintendo content,” it read, adding that selling this hardware causes the pirated game market to “exist and thrive.”
The suit also claims that Nintendo previously reached out to Daly and threatened to sue him twice: once in March and another before the suit was filed on June 28. However, Daly didn’t stop business.
The second lawsuit is against James Williams, known online as Archbox, who Nintendo says is allegedly connected to “pirate shops” that sell “massive libraries of pirated Nintendo Switch games,” according to the suit. Williams is also a moderator of r/SwitchPirates, where he is said to have sent messages to users giving them on advice on how to play illegal copies of games.
“Defendant’s posts have included, by way of example, messages directing users to the Pirate Shops […]; and offering technical advice and encouragement to other users about how to use the Pirate Shops, how to download and install Circumvention Software, and how to play pirated copies of Nintendo Switch games.”
In response to the lawsuit, subreddit moderator Vhirsion issued a statement to the community in a now-deleted post, saying that, “we must emphasize that this server does NOT condone or support piracy in any way, shape or form, our community operates under the assumption that all members are using and sharing information related to legally acquired content only. We do not allow any discussions or activities that involve illegal activity.”
In March, Nintendo won a $2.4 million lawsuit against Switch emulator maker Yuzu, which resulted in its shutdown. In 2020, a member of Team Xecuter, which sold hardware that could hack consoles, was arrested and later served a prison sentence before getting released in 2023.
