As usual, the defendants find themselves with Nintendo's lawyers on their backs for turning their passion for free games into a lucrative business. Arizona citizen James “Archbox” Williams moderates the forum r/SwitchPirates on Reddit. You don't need to have attended Sciences Po to understand the illegal nature of the operation. Nintendo accuses Archbox of managing “pirate stores” such as Jack-in-the-Shop, NekoDrive or LiberaShop, which still operates via Telegram and sells pirated games by the dozen in exchange for money.
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The Kyoto manufacturer had already asked Archbox to cease its activities last March. Nintendo also notes that r/SwitchPirates contains 198,000 subscribers and that Archbox did not hesitate to teach them how to pirate Switch games.Defendant is fully aware that his actions are illegal and infringe Nintendo's intellectual property. Indeed, Defendant has publicly bragged that he is a “pirate” who “won't give Nintendo $50 for a game.”“, the complaint explains. Archbox appears to be in very bad shape from a legal standpoint.
At the same time, Nintendo is also attacking the Modded Hardware trading platform and its manager, Ryan “Homebrew Homie” Daly. This site sells ready-to-use cracked consoles to players who are too lazy to follow online tutorials. But as Nintendo points out, in addition to facilitating piracy, Modded Hardware generally sends consoles containing a few pirated copies of Super Mario Odyssey, Breath of the Wild or even Metroid Dread to pamper its customers. The publisher is demanding several million in damages and the destruction of the modified consoles currently held by the site. It should be noted that Nintendo had already sent a letter last March demanding the shutdown of Modded Hardware; Ryan Daly had initially acquiesced before resuming his activities as if nothing had happened. To think that he could have kept all his pesos as well as his dignity…
Let's note that Nintendo remains vigilant about the ghosts of Yuzu: more than 8,500 copies had been exterminated last May. If the standoff between the company and modders/emulators will never end, let's remember that monetizing this gray (or even dark gray depending on individual ethics) segment of video games is the best way to attract the wrath of rights holders.