Highlights

  • Nintendo has sued Switch modding company Modded Hardware and individual Ryan Daly for selling pirated devices.
  • Daly previously agreed to stop but continued selling the devices, leading to the lawsuit. Nintendo also sued James Williams for alleged piracy involvement.
  • Nintendo's anti-piracy efforts continue to intensify as its next console draws closer to its eventual launch.

Nintendo has launched a new lawsuit targeting a Switch modding company after offering a no-charge exit to the defendant. At the same time, Nintendo has also filed another lawsuit against James Williams, whom it believes has been a driving force in the piracy of numerous Switch consoles.

Nintendo has long been on a crusade to eliminate any rights violations related to its products, whether they be ROM sites, game leaks before official releases, or emulator creators. Earlier this year, Nintendo filed a lawsuit against Tropic Haze, the company responsible for creating Yuzu, a Switch emulator. The lawsuit favored Nintendo and settled that Yuzu creators should pay $2.4 million to the Japanese company, a relatively nominal sum to Nintendo but likely intended to send a message to future piracy attempts.

nintendo-switch-online-trial-july-2024
Related
Nintendo Switch Online Offering New Free Trial

Nintendo is offering a new free trial for Nintendo Switch Online, and even those who have used one before are eligible.

Still, not everyone was deterred by Nintendo's anti-piracy measures, as the company has now filed a lawsuit targeting a Switch modding company. According to TorrentFreak, Nintendo's first lawsuit is directed at Modded Hardware, specifically Ryan Daly, who runs the group. The document states that Nintendo had asked him to stop illegal activities, including selling MIG devices and modded Switch consoles.

Nintendo is Suing Company That Sells Modded Switch

Although Daly agreed to the order in March, he continued to sell the pirated device, leading to the lawsuit. According to the allegations, Nintendo claims that Modded Hardware sells various hardware that allows the Switch to run pirated copies of its games. It's unknown what Nintendo is demanding with this lawsuit, but in the past, Nintendo calculated how many times Tears of the Kingdom was pirated and the impact on sales to determine the cost.

But Nintendo didn't stop there. Besides the lawsuit against Ryan Daly, the company is also suing James Williams, an Arizona resident, who Nintendo alleges is the "operator, overseer, and driving force behind several Pirate Shops, through which Defendant has offered massive libraries of pirated Nintendo Switch games." Williams also acted as a moderator for the SwitchPirates group on Reddit, where he used the name Archbox and, according to Nintendo, assisted users with questions related to unlocking the Switch. Some homebrews found on the group involve running Android on the Nintendo Switch or updating games without going online.

Nintendo's anti-piracy initiatives have intensified recently, with many believing the company is preparing for the eventual launch of its next console. The company recently revealed plans to prevent Switch 2 scalping, which is another indicator that Nintendo's next console might be closer than gamers expect.