A US federal judge has awarded Nintendo $4.5 million in damages against a Reddit moderator accused of running one of the internet’s largest Switch piracy networks — after the defendant failed to show up or respond to the lawsuit at any point during its two-year lifespan.
The default judgment against James Williams, known online as “Archbox,” was issued by District Judge Lauren King. It is the conclusion of a case that began when Nintendo filed suit in 2024, identifying Williams as a leading moderator of r/SwitchPirates — a community with over 190,000 members that facilitated the downloading and sharing of pirated Nintendo Switch games at scale.
How Nintendo Tracked Williams Down
Williams didn’t make himself easy to find. Nintendo had to work through Google subpoenas, Discord records, and other digital trails to identify who was operating as “Archbox.” He eventually hired a lawyer to object to the Google subpoena — a move the judge cited as evidence that Williams was clearly aware of the lawsuit, undermining any defence of ignorance.
According to the lawsuit, Williams solicited gift cards and game donations from r/SwitchPirates members to fund “a network of unauthorised shops” offering “extensive libraries of pirated Nintendo Switch games for download.” The subreddit itself had over 190,000 subscribers before the legal action began disrupting its operations.
Williams failed to appear at any stage of the proceedings, which led Nintendo to push for a default judgment. Courts can grant these when a defendant fails to respond — meaning the case is resolved on Nintendo’s terms without a hearing to contest the claims.
The Damages Calculation
Nintendo requested $150,000 for each of the 30 copyrighted titles Williams allegedly pirated. That figure — the maximum statutory penalty under US copyright law — applied across all 30 titles produced the $4.5 million total.
The games named in the suit represent some of Nintendo’s biggest franchises: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and Pikmin 4 are among those listed in court documents.
“Williams’ egregious infringement activities merit substantial punishment here.”
— District Judge Lauren King
Judge King also praised Nintendo for not separately seeking DMCA damages or attorney fees — which the court described as a “gesture of reasonableness” that supported awarding the full copyright penalty. Alongside the financial judgment, King issued a permanent injunction requiring Williams to immediately shut down all piracy shops and related social media accounts — not just for the 30 named games, but for any Nintendo piracy going forward.
What Happens Next — and Why It Matters
Whether Williams actually pays is a separate question from whether Nintendo won the case. Court documents indicate he has been largely uncontactable throughout the proceedings, and his current whereabouts remain unclear. A $4.5 million judgment against a private individual with no apparent declared assets is notoriously difficult to enforce, even when legally valid.
Nintendo estimates that piracy across its platforms has cost the company $170 million in lost sales. This judgment, if paid in full, would recover a small fraction of that figure — but the company’s broader objective is deterrence. The legal cost and effort of seeing these cases through sends a message to others running similar operations.
This ruling follows Nintendo’s earlier success against Ryan Daly, owner of ModdedHardware, who was ordered to pay $2 million in damages in September 2025 for selling modified Switch hardware capable of bypassing the console’s protections. That case was also settled by default. Together, the two rulings indicate Nintendo will pursue these cases regardless of whether the defendant engages with the process.
The r/SwitchPirates community has not disappeared — piracy communities tend to scatter and regroup rather than shut down entirely. But the financial and legal risk attached to running one is now considerably more concrete. Nintendo has shown it will identify operators, pursue them through court, and apply maximum penalties when given the opportunity. That’s a harder environment to operate in than it was two years ago.
