Nintendo sues Reddit moderator for selling pirated content, seeking $680 million in damages

Nintendo is seeking $4.5 million in damages from James Williams, a former moderator on Reddit, for allegedly running multiple pirate sites.

Nintendo Is Suing A Reddit Moderator For $4.5 Million - GameSpot
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-is-suing-a-reddit-moderator-for-4-5-million/1100-6535259/

In June 2024, Nintendo sued James Williams for copyright infringement by selling pirated copies of Nintendo Switch games. To identify Williams' identity, Nintendo began investigating the pirate game store he operated. This led them to an account on Reddit called 'archbox,' which was active in the piracy community. An employee of Nintendo's Product Lifecycle Management Group apparently identified this account as Williams. The article below summarizes how Nintendo identified Williams' identity.

Nintendo's method for identifying users selling pirated games is a hot topic, with posts on Reddit and the use of official repair services - GIGAZINE

The lawsuit reveals that Nintendo is seeking $4.5 million in damages from Williams.

[Lawsuit]

Nintendo is requesting that a court award it $4,500,000 in damages from a Switch piracy Reddit moderator for operating multiple piracy sites.

The person refused to stop after Nintendo asked them to, which led to this lawsuit.

They also did not respond to the lawsuit.

[image or embed]

— OatmealDome 🏳️‍🌈 ( @oatmealdome.bsky.social ) October 5, 2025, 2:16 AM

According to the complaint, Williams operated multiple pirated content sales websites, sold hacked Nintendo Switch-related devices, and sold modified Nintendo Switches containing pirated content.

Nintendo claims that Williams failed to comply with a cease and desist order issued by Nintendo, and that Williams' failure to comply with Nintendo's requests is the cause of the lawsuit.

In February 2024, Nintendo sued the developer of the Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu for copyright infringement and ultimately received $2.4 million in damages. Following this, Yuzu developer Bunnei announced the suspension of services for Yuzu and the Nintendo 3DS emulator 'Citra.'

Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu, sued by Nintendo, agrees to pay damages and immediately ends distribution - GIGAZINE

Nintendo is also suing Pocket Pair, the developer of Pal World, which has become a hot topic for being 'too similar to Pokemon.'

Nintendo and The Pokémon Company sue Pal World developer for patent infringement - GIGAZINE

In addition, Nintendo's content is being generated in large quantities using OpenAI's video generation AI, Sora 2, which has raised concerns about copyright infringement. However, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has promised to improve the situation.

CEO Sam Altman promises to improve the situation where character videos are being created using the video generation AI 'Sora 2,' especially referring to Japanese content and suggesting revenue distribution to rights holders - GIGAZINE