Nintendo has sued a Switch modchip vendor and the moderator of the popular Switch piracy site Reddit.
The company filed complaints against Ryan Daly, who runs a shop called Modded Hardware, and r/SwitchPirates moderator Archbox, whose real name is James Williams, TorrentFreak reports.
The lawsuit filed against Modded Hardware alleges that Nintendo contacted Daly in March and threatened to sue him unless he stopped selling modded Switch consoles and MIG switches (which allow pirated Switch games to be played on non-modded hardware).
According to Nintendo’s complaint, Daly agreed in March to stop selling unauthorized devices, but continued to do so, saying he was looking for a new lawyer.
Nintendo therefore filed a complaint in federal court in Seattle, accusing Daly of six counts, including “trafficking in circumvention devices” and copyright infringement.
The lawsuit alleges that Daly not only sold mods to customers, but also offered a mail-in service that allowed gamers to send in their Switch consoles and have them returned modified, often with pirated games installed.
“The defendant not only offers hardware and firmware to create and play pirated games, but also provides its customers with copies of pirated Nintendo games,” the platform holder’s complaint states.
“Typically, when a customer purchases a hacked console or circumvention services, the Defendant pre-installs a ready-to-play portfolio of pirated games on the console, including some of Nintendo’s most popular titles such as Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda and others. Metroid games.”
Nintendo is demanding financial compensation from Daly as well as a complete shutdown of his website. It also wants him to “deliver to NOA all circumvention devices, hacked consoles, and any other physical or digital copies of materials that infringe or violate any of NOA’s rights.”
The second suit was filed against Arizona resident James Williams, whom Nintendo claims is “the operator, supervisor and driving force behind several Pirate Shops through which the Defendant offered vast libraries of pirated games for the Nintendo Switch.”
Williams was also the moderator of the SwitchPirates Reddit group, where he used the name Archbox and helped users with questions about modding their Switch consoles.
“Defendant became a prominent (if not primary) moderator of the SwitchPirates Reddit community, which he helped grow to nearly 190,000 members,” Nintendo’s complaint states.
“Since 2019, the Defendant has posted thousands of comments and messages to the SwitchPirates Reddit Group. For example, the defendant’s posts contained messages directing users to Pirate Shops […] and offer technical advice and encouragement to other users on how to use Pirate Shops, how to download and install Circumvention Software, and how to play pirated copies of Nintendo Switch games.”
The complaint alleges that Williams was involved in three “pirate deals” that have since been closed, and claims that a fourth is still active.
It also provides quotes from Williams stating on Reddit that he refuses to pay Nintendo money for its products.
“Defendant is well aware that his conduct is illegal and infringes Nintendo’s intellectual property rights,” it reads. “Indeed, the defendant publicly boasted that he was a ‘pirate’ who ‘[isn’t] will give Nintendo $50 per game.”
Nintendo is seeking financial compensation from Williams, as well as a request that he close all remaining “piracy stores” and any social media accounts associated with them.