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Nintendo Wins $4.5 Million From Reddit Mod Who Sold Pirated Switch Games
The court awarded Nintendo $4.5 million and barred Williams from running pirate shops or sharing software that bypasses Switch protections.
On Wednesday, District Judge Lauren King issued a default judgment against James Williams, ordering the Reddit moderator to pay Nintendo $4.5 million in damages for copyright infringement involving pirated Switch games.
According to the complaint, Williams served as a "leading moderator" of the SwitchPirates community, where he solicited "donations" of gift cards and games "to be copied and distributed" through online pirate stores.
Nintendo's $4.5 million award reflects $150,000 per violation across 30 copyrighted titles, including Animal Crossing, Luigi's Mansion, and Pikmin games, according to court documents detailing the copyright claims.
Beyond the monetary penalty, King ordered Williams to "immediately disable access" to his alleged pirate shops and shut down social media accounts used to distribute copyrighted Switch game files.
This ruling follows Nintendo's recent success against Ryan Daly of Modded Hardware and reflects an aggressive legal campaign against piracy that the company estimates has caused $170 million in lost sales.