Japan Arrests First Alleged Nintendo Switch Modder, Marking New Era in Video Game Piracy

Video game piracy has entered a new era with the first-ever arrest in Japan of an individual accused of modifying Nintendo Switch hardware. On January 15, a 58-year-old man was arrested for allegedly violating the Trademark Act by modifying Switch consoles to run pirated games and selling them.

According to NTV News and translated by Automaton, the suspect reportedly modified second-hand Switch consoles by welding parts to the circuit boards, enabling them to play 27 illegally accessed games. These modified consoles were sold for ¥28,000 (approximately $180) each. The man has confessed to the charges and is under further investigation for potential additional violations.

Nintendo, a company long embroiled in the fight against piracy, has taken significant legal actions to combat this issue. For instance, in May 2024, Nintendo issued a takedown request targeting 8,500 copies of the Switch emulator Yuzu, following its initial lawsuit against the emulator's creator, Tropic Haze. The lawsuit highlighted that Nintendo's flagship game, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, had been pirated over one million times before its official release in 2023.

Legal battles against piracy are intensifying, with successful lawsuits against platforms like RomUniverse, which was ordered to pay $2.1 million in damages to Nintendo in 2021 and over $12 million in 2018. Additionally, Nintendo's efforts extended to blocking the GameCube and Wii emulator Dolphin from being released on the PC gaming platform Steam.

This week, a patent lawyer representing Nintendo shed light on the company's stance on piracy and emulation. Koji Nishiura, Assistant Manager of Nintendo's Intellectual Property Division, discussed the legality of emulators, stating, “To begin with, are emulators illegal or not? This is a point often debated. While you can’t immediately claim that an emulator is illegal in itself, it can become illegal depending on how it’s used.” This underscores Nintendo's ongoing commitment to protecting its intellectual property and combating piracy.