Reddit Moderator Ordered to Pay Nintendo $4.5 Million Following Lawsuit

Almost a year after Nintendo took legal action against a Reddit moderator overseeing a piracy forum for the Switch, a verdict has been reached in the case. The outcome was unfavorable for the defendant, especially since the moderator failed to appear in court.

Nintendo has been awarded $4.5 million in damages after accusing James “Archbox” Williams of copying, distributing, and promoting piracy related to the Nintendo Switch. The company claimed that Williams was responsible for creating and managing piracy websites that enabled users to download a vast array of Switch games. When the lawsuit was filed in October 2025, Nintendo argued that the damages they were experiencing were far from adequate to address the severity of the defendant’s actions. They noted that they could have pursued “several million dollars” in statutory damages for violations of the DMCA, but chose not to, framing their actions against Williams as “reasonable.”

Before the launch of the Switch 2, Nintendo grappled with significant piracy issues affecting its 2017 console. Major titles, including The Legend of Zelda and Pokémon, were often available for download well before their official release dates. In response, Nintendo adopted a proactive legal strategy, filing numerous lawsuits against piracy websites, hardware hackers, sellers of pirated software, and even fans streaming pirated games. At one point, the company collaborated with the FBI to combat piracy, estimating losses of around $170 million in game sales.

A court in Washington has ordered Williams to promptly shut down access to the online stores he allegedly operated. Meanwhile, the piracy community surrounding the Switch is distancing itself from Williams.

“Dude was a moron for selling this stuff,” commented one of the top responses to the news. “Bro was asking to get caught.”

Shigeru Miyamoto provided testimony in the 1983 case against Universal, the owners of King Kong.