Nintendo ‘caught a pirate via their Reddit posts and console repairs’

Nintendo reportedly identified a user who was allegedly pirating its software by tracking their Reddit posts and console repair requests.

The user, named James Williams, used the alias ‘Archbox’ online. Via this username, a firm hired by Nintendo was able to link the account, which had posted in subreddits about Switch piracy, to other posts that identified their location.

According to Game File, recent court filings revealed that Nintendo hired the law firm Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp to investigate “freeshops,” or online stores for pirated Switch games.

The report goes on to say that “in or about February of 2024, plaintiff [Nintendo] succeeded in linking ‘Archbox’ with at least two Nintendo accounts for an individual named James Williams.”

Following this, it’s claimed Nintendo was able to check its internal records and find a matching email address used by Williams, which was tied to an address in Arizona, which previous Reddit posts had suggested was Williams’ home state.

Following a cease-and-desist letter from Nintendo, Williams allegedly emailed Nintendo to say that he would, per their filing, “comply and cooperate with any demands or requests…within [his] control.”

However, they reportedly then stopped communicating with Nintendo, thus leading to a default judgment in Nintendo’s favor. Details of damages sought by Nintendo have yet to be made public.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Nintendo has filed a lawsuit against a player who taunted the company on streams while pirating its games. 

According to the company, defendant Jesse Keighin, “is a recidivist pirate who has obtained and streamed Nintendo’s leaked games on multiple occasions”.

The lawsuit alleges that since 2022, Keighin streamed “at least 10 of Nintendo’s leaked games” before they were released, “more than 50 times in total”, the most recent being Mario & Luigi: Brothership.