Key Takeaways
- Nintendo sued James Williams for selling pirated Switch games, which resulted in a default judgment against him.
- Williams' mistake in linking his online handle led Nintendo to trace his physical address.
how nintendo It has been revealed that an individual who appears to have been selling pirated copies of Nintendo Switch games has been tracked down. The company's legal team always seems to be on the lookout for people trying to illegally profit from Nintendo's property, and recently filed documents provide some clues as to how one of these searches led to a suit being filed for alleged piracy. .
Last July, it was revealed that Nintendo had sued an individual named James Williams for allegedly distributing and selling a large library of illegal Nintendo Switch games. Williams was accused of not only selling the game, but also helping others play unofficial copies through communities he moderated. Williams certainly made a name for himself online, but it ended up being part of his downfall.
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James “Archbox” Williams made a number of mistakes that made him a relatively easy man to track, according to legal documents and court papers first reported by Game File. Law firm Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp was hired by Nintendo in 2023 to investigate online stores offering pirated Nintendo Switch games, according to the filing. Archbox apparently came out of nowhere during the company's hunt and caught Nintendo's attention. Not much was known at the time other than the Archbox handle, and its posting history on Reddit suggests it was located somewhere in Phoenix, Arizona.
Where did Nintendo connect with the Switch Pirate?
It's not 100% known how Nintendo ended up tracking down Williams with this basic information. By February 2024, Nintendo appears to have linked Archbox to two of James Williams' accounts. It's unclear if he used the exact same handle on his Nintendo account or the email address associated with it, but it sounds like it could be. There, the gaming giant looked through email addresses in its own Nintendo repair database and discovered that James Williams also had an account there and had previously requested repairs, giving Nintendo the physical address it needed to process the lawsuit.
Ultimately, after insisting that he would cooperate, Williams failed to plead his case in court, resulting in a default judgment against Nintendo. The posting history and Archbox's alleged actions suggest that the individual has been doing this for a long time, but he does not appear to have been very thorough in hiding his identity. Some of the advance searches for Nintendo pirates have landed them in jail, showing once again that trying to plagiarize Nintendo is not worth it.
nintendo switch
$285 $300 $15 off
The Nintendo Switch is a hybrid portable and home console that aims to be the only gaming system anyone needs. The hybrid controller was a clear success, offering a high level of portable visual quality and being able to easily transition to a home console.
- brand
- nintendo
- battery
- 1 lithium polymer battery required
- size
- 13.7 x 7.8 x 3.66 inches
- weight
- 2.65 pounds
