A Washington court has ruled in favor of Nintendo, ordering Reddit moderator James “Archbox” Williams to pay $4.5 million in damages after the company accused him of running and promoting a network of Switch piracy websites. The verdict, delivered nearly a year after Nintendo filed its motion, came after Williams failed to appear in court — a circumstance that did little to soften the outcome for the defendant. Nintendo’s legal team had repeatedly warned that the true cost of Williams’s conduct ran far higher than the figure ultimately awarded, and the ruling reinforces the publisher’s long-running campaign against digital game theft.
According to Aftermath, the lawsuit centers on Williams’s alleged role in copying, distributing, and publicly promoting pirated Nintendo Switch games. Nintendo further alleged that Williams created, operated, supported, and promoted piracy websites that allowed users to download extensive libraries of Switch titles. The case traces back to October 2025, when Nintendo initially filed its motion against the Redditor. At that time, the company argued that the damages it was seeking were “nowhere near an amount that would compensate NOA for the seriousness of the Defendant’s conduct.” Nintendo noted it could have pursued “several million dollars” in statutory damages for DMCA violations, but ultimately chose not to, characterizing its actions against Williams as “reasonable.”
A Long War on Switch Piracy
Williams’s conviction is the latest chapter in a broader, well-documented conflict between Nintendo and the piracy ecosystem. Prior to the release of the Switch 2, the company faced a significant piracy problem with its 2017 portable console. Nearly every major release on the platform — from The Legend of Zelda to Pokémon — became available to download well ahead of their intended release dates. In response, Nintendo pursued the threat aggressively, filing an increasing number of lawsuits over the years. The publisher has gone after piracy websites, hardware hackers, and pirate software sellers alike, and at one point even worked with the FBI to tackle the problem head-on. Nintendo has estimated that it has suffered $170 million in lost game sales as a result of this ongoing battle.
“Dude was a moron for selling this shit.” “Bro was asking to get fucked.”
Top-voted replies in the Switch piracy community
As the verdict landed, the piracy community at the center of the lawsuit appeared to distance itself from Williams. One top-voted reply to the news dismissed the defendant outright, with users echoing a sense of relief that the operator of the online shops would no longer be profiting from stolen games. The reaction underscores how the platform’s piracy scene has long relied on figures like Williams to maintain and distribute its illicit libraries.
Looking Ahead
The Washington court ordered Williams to immediately disable access to the online shops he allegedly ran, effectively cutting off the storefronts tied to the piracy operation. For Nintendo, the ruling adds another data point to a strategy that has consistently treated piracy as a legal rather than a technical problem. As the company prepares for the Switch 2’s continued presence in the market, the verdict signals that its willingness to pursue individual operators — even those operating from behind the relative anonymity of a Reddit moderator role — shows no signs of slowing down.
No comments