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

Video game piracy has reached a new milestone with the Japanese police arresting an individual for the first time on charges related to modifying Nintendo Switch hardware. According to reports from NTV News and translated by Automaton, a 58-year-old man was apprehended on January 15, 2025, suspected of breaching the Trademark Act. He allegedly modified Switch consoles to play pirated games and sold these altered units.

The modification involved welding specialized parts onto the circuit boards of second-hand consoles, enabling them to run unauthorized games. The suspect reportedly loaded each console with 27 pirated games and sold them for ¥28,000 ($180) each. He has confessed to the allegations and is under further investigation for potential additional offenses.

Nintendo has been actively combating piracy for years. In a notable instance in May 2024, the company issued a takedown request for 8,500 copies of the Switch emulator Yuzu, following its initial removal two months earlier. Nintendo's lawsuit against Yuzu's developer, Tropic Haze, highlighted the significant piracy of their flagship title, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which was illegally downloaded over a million times before its official release in 2023.

Legal actions against piracy are becoming increasingly prevalent. Nintendo has won substantial lawsuits against platforms facilitating piracy, such as RomUniverse, which was ordered to pay $2.1 million in damages in 2021 and over $12 million in 2018. Additionally, Nintendo successfully blocked the release of the GameCube and Wii emulator Dolphin on the Steam platform.

This week, insights into Nintendo's stance on piracy and emulation were shared by a patent lawyer representing the company. 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."