Nintendo is not letting up with the figurative bloodletting as it now plans to double down on its anti-piracy campaigns. After winning a recent lawsuit for Switch piracy in which the defendant failed to plea, Nintendo is now looking for other targets. It just so happens that the biggest one on their crosshairs is a Switch piracy subreddit with nearly 200,000 members.
This initiative from Nintendo came about after its further investigation of James ‘Archbox’ Williams, the Switch pirate involved in the previous lawsuit the company won. Because of Williams, Nintendo became aware of multiple other online actors with big roles in the Switch piracy circulation.
According to Game File, Nintendo is seeking court approval to subpoena internet sites like Reddit, Github, and even Discord to crack down and track everyone involved with Williams’ Switch piracy. The piracy subreddit on Reddit called “SwitchPirates” was also brought into the spotlight. It supposedly boasts a large following of nearly 200,000 members.
“Nintendo of America (NOA) said its investigation of Switch modder James “Archbox” Williams has given it new targets. They include a SwitchPirates subreddit with some 200,000 members.
Nintendo has reason to believe that other accounts active in the SwitchPirates community may also have been controlled by Defendant, or else reflect other individuals who have worked alongside Defendant,” according to the company.
So, the bottom line, Nintendo is far from done with its crackdown on Switch anti-piracy and wants to get deeper into its war against the Pirate Shops. Nintendo identifying the people who run these Pirate Shops and the circulation forums such as the aforementioned subreddit will give them more characters to sue.
Nintendo’s Long History with Switch Anti-Piracy
This wasn’t the first time Nintendo made strides in its efforts for anti-piracy– though it could be the biggest to date now that they’re involving other legitimate companies.
Previously this year, Nintendo shut down the popular Ryujinx Switch emulator. This emulator allowed people who own a PC to download and play Switch-exclusive games without having to pay for a Switch or the game itself. Afterward, Nintendo also shut down another popular Switch emulator, Yuzu through legal actions as well.
Meanwhile, James ‘Archbox’ Williams, Nintendo’s most recent notch, sold pirated copies of Switch games. He did this partly through the big Switch piracy subreddit mentioned above. It remains to be seen whether Nintendo can follow through with further crackdowns on Switch piracy.
