Nintendo has been handed a huge win in a nearly two-year-long lawsuit related to Switch piracy, with the gaming juggernaut now owed millions in damages. The Nintendo lawsuit aims to shut down an ongoing piracy circuit that has distributed “massive libraries” of games.
Piracy has long been an issue that has plagued the gaming industry, with Nintendo among the biggest companies working against it. Nintendo has often flexed its legal muscles when dealing with piracy rings to protect its intellectual property, using lawsuits to shut down websites used for piracy. Nintendo has even enlisted the help of government bodies to take down pirates, with the FBI taking down Switch piracy website NSw2u in 2025. Now, an ongoing Nintendo piracy lawsuit has been ruled in Nintendo’s favor by a Washington court.
Nintendo Wins $4.5 Million Anti-Piracy Lawsuit
The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington formally ruled in Nintendo’s favor on a lawsuit against well-known Switch pirate Archbox. The court officially granted Nintendo of America’s motion for a default judgment in the case, citing the defendant’s failure to appear in court for the hearings. The judgment requires Archbox to pay Nintendo the full requested sum of $4.5 million in damages, and the immediate shutdown of all the online sites operated by Archbox. Nintendo even requested that all social media platforms connected to Archbox’s sites be shut down as part of the ruling.
Put the consoles in the correct order.
Nintendo’s latest win comes after the company has historically been heavy-handed with its approach to handling piracy on the Switch. The company has taken aggressive action against users attempting to modify their Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 consoles for purposes that the company deems related to piracy, even bricking some Nintendo Switch consoles that have been modded. Many fans also warned consumers about buying used Nintendo Switch 2 consoles after the system’s release, noting bans tied to a console’s serial number could potentially cause used Switch 2s to be unusable.
While Nintendo has largely been successful with its piracy and copyright-related lawsuits, a popular competing game has proven the company is not infallible. Following the high-profile launch of Palworld in early 2024, Nintendo did not take long to go after the monster-catching game, citing patent infringement on multiple fronts by Pocketpair’s game. Though Nintendo pursued the lawsuit aggressively against Pocketpair, the lawsuit has dragged on for nearly two years and has even seen Nintendo reduce the scope of its Palworld lawsuit and its demands from Pocketpair. The next hearing is scheduled for October 1, with the court expected to indicate its view on the case on November 9.
Nintendo’s big anti-piracy win comes as the company has a busy holiday season ahead. A remake of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was announced as the company’s big new release for the holiday season, teasing a completely overhauled Hyrule and plenty of helpful quality-of-life changes. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was also confirmed to be receiving a Switch 2 edition upgrade, scheduled to officially launch on December 3. Nintendo fans should have plenty to look forward to throughout the rest of the year, with a multitude of exciting new releases on the way.
Source: NintendoLife
