Switch Pirate Owes Nintendo $4.5 Million After Ignoring Lawsuit

Ever think you can ignore a lawsuit from Nintendo and get away with it? Think again. A Washington court just ordered a former Reddit moderator to pay Nintendo a whopping $4.5 million for pirating Switch games. And guess what? He didn't even bother to show up in court.

The saga began when Nintendo sued James "Archbox" Williams in June 2024. Williams, a former moderator of the r/SwitchPirates subreddit, was accused of running several pirate shops where he illegally decrypted and distributed Switch games. According to the lawsuit, he'd been doing this since at least 2019, using circumvention software to bypass Nintendo's protections and gain access to over 30 games. We're talking big titles like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

But here's the kicker: Williams reportedly ignored the complaint entirely. That prompted Nintendo to seek the maximum statutory damages of $150,000 per title in October 2025. And this week, US District Judge Lauren King agreed, ordering Williams to cough up $4.5 million. In her ruling, Judge King noted that Williams was clearly aware of the case—he even hired a lawyer to object to a Google subpoena and kept posting on Reddit—but chose not to respond to the lawsuit.

In one screenshot saved by TorrentFreak, Williams called himself a "pirate" and said he and others like him won't "give Nintendo $50 for a game" when there are "months of releases unavailable anywhere." That attitude might have cost him millions. Judge King concluded that Williams' "egregious infringement activities merit substantial punishment," especially since he knew the games were copyrighted but willfully copied and distributed them anyway.

Beyond the hefty fine, Williams has been hit with a permanent injunction. He's now barred from any illegal distribution of Switch games, encouraging others to pirate, or bypassing Nintendo's systems. He must also shut down his pirate shops and deactivate his social media accounts. According to TorrentFreak, many of those accounts—including Discord, Instagram, Reddit, Telegram, TikTok, and X—are already gone. Some of his pirate shops were also taken offline after Nintendo sent a cease-and-desist in March 2024.

For Nintendo, this is another win in its ongoing battle against piracy. The company wanted to make an example of Williams, and it certainly did. So, next time you think about messing with Nintendo, remember: those white gloves might serve you papers. Will you be thinking twice before downloading that sketchy ROM? Let us know in the comments!