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Nintendo Goes After Reddit Moderator for $4.5 Million Over Switch Piracy Operation
October 7, 2025Nintendo is seeking $4.5 million in damages from a Reddit user accused of running a sprawling network for pirated Switch games and taking charge of the online community that fueled it.
The lawsuit targets James Williams, known online as Archbox, who moderates the SwitchPirates Reddit group and allegedly managed a web of so-called “Pirate Shops.” According to legal filings in the Western District of Washington, Nintendo says Williams ignored repeated warnings to stop distributing pirated content and, when finally sued, failed to defend himself in court.
Alleged Kingpin of Switch Piracy Circles
Nintendo’s complaint doesn’t mince words. They claim Williams “long has been involved in creating, operating, supporting, and promoting a network of Pirate Shops”, sites that made entire libraries of stolen Switch games available for free download. His role wasn’t just technical; Nintendo points out that Williams acted as owner, manager, administrator, and public advocate for these shops since at least 2019.
The scale of the operations is staggering. The SwitchPirates Reddit group, where Williams served as “a leading (if not primary) moderator,” ballooned to 190,000 members. On the forum, Williams posted thousands of times, sometimes asking for Nintendo eShop gift cards as “donations”. Nintendo says the goal was clear: use gifted funds to buy new titles and immediately add them to the piracy network.
His influence didn’t stop at Reddit. The filings accuse Williams of running at least four Pirate Shops directly and being involved in “numerous others.” Some of these outlets reportedly offered exclusive content in exchange for eShop card “donations,” including “Pro tiers” for premium, harder-to-find games. Williams also led an online group called Missing Dumps, described as a community organised around identifying and acquiring unpirated Switch games for the Pirate Shops’ catalogue, using eShop card contributions.
How Nintendo Tracked and Challenged Williams
In March 2024, Nintendo confronted Williams, demanding the immediate shutdown of his Pirate Shops. The company says Williams “acknowledged his conduct violated NOA’s rights and stated that he would work with NOA to satisfy its demands,” but he later refused to formally agree and even denied key involvement in several aspects.
Negotiations quickly soured. According to Nintendo, Williams became “combative and uncooperative,” refusing to put any commitment in writing. With no progress and fresh evidence that he was still active, Nintendo filed a multi-count lawsuit in June 2024, accusing him of copyright infringement, circumvention, and trafficking in circumvention devices, the very tools required to play the pirated games.
There’s more: Nintendo says Williams played a hand in keeping the whole scheme afloat by “creating, promoting and distributing the circumvention software,” and even helped Pirate Shops avoid legal takedowns by finding foreign mirror sites to host illegal files.
The silence has been deafening since then. According to court documents, Nintendo only heard from Williams’ lawyer once, back in January 2025, and received no additional response from either Williams or his attorney. As a result, Nintendo now wants the court to issue a default judgment in its favour for the full $4.5 million.
The stakes are high for Nintendo, which has ramped up legal action against high-profile piracy figures. Only recently, another major Switch piracy defendant, Ryan Daly, settled with the company for $2 million and received a permanent ban from handling modded hardware.
Nintendo’s Piracy Crackdown Continues
This case highlights how aggressively Nintendo is going after the operators behind sprawling piracy communities. The lawsuit makes it clear that Nintendo is not only targeting those who distribute pirated games, but also anyone building the infrastructure or evangelising illegal downloads.
With a growing legal track record and massive damages sought in these cases, Nintendo clearly hopes these high-profile moves will send ripples through the piracy scene and make anyone thinking about filling the gaps left by “Missing Dumps” think twice.
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