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NINTENDO WINS $4.5M DEFAULT JUDGMENT OVER SWITCH PIRACY

THU 24 SEP 2026 GAMING

Nintendo of America has been awarded $4.5 million in a copyright lawsuit against James Williams, a Reddit moderator known online as "archbox", over the alleged distribution of pirated Nintendo Switch games. US District Judge Lauren King issued the default judgment in Washington on Wednesday after Williams did not respond to the case. Nintendo had filed the lawsuit in 2024, alleging Williams was the "operator, overseer and driving force" behind several online "pirate shops" offering libraries of pirated Switch games for download. The court has also ordered Williams to immediately shut down all online stores he operates or controls that offer pirated Nintendo games. Williams was reportedly a moderator of the r/SwitchPirates Reddit community, though he does not currently appear listed as a moderator there.

According to Nintendo's complaint, Williams became a leading moderator of the community, where he allegedly solicited donations of Nintendo eShop gift cards and copies of Switch games to be copied and distributed through the pirate stores. Judge King wrote in the order that Nintendo had demonstrated Williams promoted online shops offering pirated Nintendo game files and circumvention software, encouraged others to contribute pirated games, and assisted others in distributing pirated Switch games while aware the activity violated copyright law. Nintendo asked the court for the $4.5 million default judgment last October. The award reflects $150,000 per violation across 30 copyrighted games, including Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Luigi's Mansion 3 and Pikmin 4.

The judgment adds to a series of copyright cases pursued by Nintendo in recent years. The company recently won a separate case in the Netherlands, where a court ruled it illegal to sell Mig flash cartridges that allow pirated games to be played. The r/SwitchPirates subreddit remains active following the ruling. No further legal steps in the Williams case have been reported.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

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