Nintendo scores $4.5M win against Switch piracy kingpin
Piracy doesn’t pay.
Nintendo's Super Mario character is inside a Target store. by Kevin Carter/Getty Images.
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- Nintendo won a $4.5 million default judgment against Switch piracy operator James Williams.
- A US court ordered Williams to shut down illegal stores and related social media channels.
- Nintendo said the sites distributed pirated Switch games and offered paid benefits through donations.
- The company also recently won a Dutch case targeting devices used to bypass Switch security protections.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
Nintendo of America has won a piracy lawsuit against a defendant for operating several Nintendo Switch piracy websites and a piracy subreddit.
In October 2025, Nintendo filed a lawsuit against James C. Williams, also known as Archbox, for facilitating a network of unauthorized online shops offering public libraries of pirated Nintendo Switch games for download.
The defendant not only illegally copied and distributed Nintendo games but also actively promoted their copying and distribution to thousands of others across a variety of websites and online communities.
In addition, he asked gamers for “donations,” meaning they could download Switch games faster and without restrictions. Lastly, he offered technical advice on how to download and install pirated copies of Nintendo Switch games.
“These activities have substantially damaged Nintendo of America’s (NOA’s) overall business and intellectual property rights, as well as the business and intellectual property rights of NOA’s development and publishing partners, and further have caused harm to the many artists, game designers, programmers, and others whose livelihoods depend upon the sale of authorized Nintendo products,” Nintendo said in court documents.
Since the defendant didn’t appear in court, the gaming company asked for a default judgment.
Court penalizes operator of piracy networks and websites
Last week, the US District Court for the Western District of Washington ruled in favor of Nintendo of America.
The court has ordered the defendant to pay $4.5 million in statutory damages, calculated as $150,000 per game for a total of 30 pirated games. In addition, the court has ruled that the defendant must immediately shut down all illegal stores and their associated social media channels.
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Tech giant cracks down on illegal ROM distribution and circumvention devices
Earlier this month, Nintendo won a court case over Switch piracy devices designed to play and create unauthorized copies of Nintendo video games.
The District Court of The Hague ordered the defendant to immediately stop selling any devices that can circumvent Nintendo’s technical security measures.
On top of that, the court instructed him to pay a penalty of €10,000 per day should he fail to comply with the order, up to a maximum of €500,000.
