A Washington court has ordered James “Archbox” Williams to pay Nintendo $4.5 million after the Reddit moderator was accused of operating and promoting Nintendo Switch piracy services.
Why Nintendo was awarded $4.5 million
Nintendo alleged that Williams copied, distributed and promoted pirated Switch games through online shops and related websites. The company also claimed he created, operated, supported and advertised services that gave users access to extensive libraries of Nintendo software.
The case followed a motion filed in October 2025. Nintendo argued that the damage it had suffered was far greater than the amount needed to compensate it for the seriousness of the alleged conduct. The company said it could have pursued several million dollars in statutory damages for Digital Millennium Copyright Act violations, but described its claim against Williams as reasonable because it did not seek those additional damages.
Williams did not attend court, and the proceedings ultimately went against him. The court also ordered him to immediately disable access to the online shops he allegedly ran.
A wider crackdown on Switch piracy
The case arrives after years of piracy affecting Nintendo’s 2017 console. Before the release of the Switch 2, major titles including games from The Legend of Zelda and Pokémon were reportedly appearing online before their official release dates.
Nintendo has responded with lawsuits and other legal action targeting piracy websites, hardware hackers, software sellers and people accused of livestreaming pirated games. The company also worked with the FBI on efforts to address the problem. Nintendo has estimated that piracy has caused $170 million in lost game sales.
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Reaction from the piracy community
The online community associated with the lawsuit has distanced itself from Williams. One highly upvoted response criticised him for selling pirated material and suggested that legal consequences were predictable.
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