A Washington federal court has ordered a former Reddit moderator to pay Nintendo $4.5 million in damages after the company accused him of running a network of pirate shops that illegally decrypted and distributed dozens of Switch games. US District Judge Lauren King delivered the ruling on September 25, directing James “Archbox” Williams to cough up the statutory maximum penalty for each title he pirated. The lawsuit, originally filed in June 2024, alleges that Williams operated his piracy operation for years, using circumvention software to bypass Nintendo’s security systems and gain access to more than 30 games, including blockbusters such as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
What makes the judgment notable is that Williams appears to have ignored Nintendo’s complaint entirely when it was first served. According to the court record, he hired a lawyer to object to a Google subpoena and kept posting on Reddit, but never responded to the company’s lawsuit. That deliberate silence is precisely why Judge King awarded the maximum $150,000 per title, totaling $4.5 million across the 30 games at issue. In the ruling, the judge wrote that Williams “was aware of the case” and chose to avoid engagement rather than contest the allegations.
A Pirate Who Embraced the Piracy
Williams was reportedly unapologetic about his role in the underground distribution scene. TorrentFreak captured a screenshot of a Reddit thread in which Williams openly referred to himself as a “pirate,” arguing that he and others like him “won’t give Nintendo $50 for a game” when “months of releases [are] unavailable anywhere.” The comment reads less like a defense and more like a manifesto, underscoring the mindset of a small but persistent community that has long operated outside Nintendo’s ecosystem.
For Nintendo, the case was never really about the money. The company has repeatedly used its legal muscle to send a message to would-be infringers, and Williams fit the bill perfectly. According to the lawsuit, Nintendo sought the judgment both to halt his ongoing operations and to establish a public example of the consequences that await those who challenge the Mario maker. The company’s reputation for relentless litigation has earned it a reputation among the piracy world as a particularly difficult opponent to face.
“The last factor also weighs heavily in favor of the statutory maximum penalty because NOA’s complaint contains well-supported and extensive allegations that Williams knew the videogames were copyrighted but willfully undertook his copying and distribution efforts anyway.” Judge King concluded that “Williams’ egregious infringement activities merit substantial punishment here.”
US District Judge Lauren King
Shutting Down the Operation
Alongside the financial penalty, Judge King issued a permanent injunction barring Williams from all illegal distribution of Switch games. The order prohibits him from encouraging others to download pirated titles, from helping anyone bypass Nintendo’s systems, and from operating the pirate shops he had built up. It also requires him to deactivate his social media accounts.
By the time the ruling landed, much of the cleanup had already occurred. TorrentFreak reports that Williams’ Discord, Instagram, Reddit, Telegram, TikTok, and X accounts have all gone dark. Several of the pirate shops he ran were taken offline earlier, after Nintendo sent a cease-and-desist letter in March 2024. The combination of legal pressure and the swift disappearance of his online presence suggests that the injunction is largely being enforced, even if the $4.5 million judgment remains a symbolic blow to an individual rather than a systemic one.
Looking Ahead
For Nintendo, this case adds another chapter to a long-running campaign against digital piracy, and the outcome reinforces the company’s willingness to pursue the maximum penalty when defendants willfully ignore the law. The judgment also signals to the broader piracy community that evading a lawsuit is not a viable strategy—deliberate non-engagement can work against a defendant, not in his favor.
As the gaming industry continues to grapple with the ongoing threat of piracy, cases like this one will likely remain a reference point for how aggressively publishers will defend their intellectual property. For Williams, the lesson is clear: when the gloves come off, the bill comes due. And in the world of Nintendo, those white gloves are always ready to serve papers.
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