Nintendo of America filed a lawsuit on Friday against Gary Bowser, a reported “leader” of hack developer Team Xecuter. Bowser and another Team Xecuter member, Max Louarn, were arrested in 2020 and charged with 11 criminal offenses. The new lawsuit alleges that Bowser infringed Nintendo’s copyright in the creation and sale of his hacks. The lawsuit, which was filed in a Seattle court, alleges Bowser has two cases of human trafficking and copyright infringement.
Nintendo described Bowser’s operation as “an international ring of pirates” selling Nintendo Switch hacking devices designed to bypass the company’s security measures so that buyers can play pirated Nintendo Switch games. Nintendo has already filed several lawsuits against sellers of the hacking tools – including the SX Pro, SX Core and SX Lite, three devices used to hack the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite.
According to the lawsuit, Bowser has been developing and selling Nintendo hacking devices since at least 2013 when he was handing out a device for hacking Nintendo 3DS. Throughout the lawsuit, Nintendo documented a long history of the Bowser’s Switch hacks, as well as a breakdown of how the devices worked.
Nintendo has historically focused much of its legal efforts on resellers. Several lawsuits have been filed in recent years, one of which resulted in a $ 2 million settlement for the company. On Thursday, Nintendo won an injunction
Previously, Nintendo described the hacking and piracy of Nintendo Switch as a “serious, worsening international problem”. In Friday’s lawsuit, lawyers wrote that Bowser’s goods “continue to pirate more than 79 million Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite consoles.”
Team Xecuter is a for-profit company that sells kits used to hack Nintendo devices. Some video game keepers argue that video game piracy can be used to document and preserve games, but Team Xecuter has, as always, been a controversial organization because of its methods. as reported by Ars Technica in May.
Nintendo is looking for damage – $ 2,500 for every device traded, plus $ 150,000 for every copyright infringement. Of course, Nintendo also wants to permanently stop Bowser’s operation.
Polygon has asked Nintendo for more information.
