Nintendo has concluded a year-long lawsuit against Modded Hardware, the company behind the MiG Switch and similar hacking devices. According to a court filing from the United States District Court in Seattle, Modded Hardware founder Ryan Daly has agreed to pay Nintendo $2 million as part of a settlement. In addition, Daly is now permanently banned from selling or possessing any flash cartridges, mod chips, or other tools designed to circumvent the Switch’s protection systems.
The settlement also includes a permanent injunction that gives Nintendo the right to seize all MiG Switch devices, related hardware, and any websites associated with Modded Hardware. Daly, who initially denied involvement with the company, represented himself in the case without a lawyer, according to a Gamerant article. Nintendo argued that the MiG Switch and other devices violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by bypassing the console’s security protections. This decision echoes a similar ruling in March 2024, when Nintendo settled a lawsuit against Tropic Haze, the creators of the Yuzu emulator, for $2.4 million. Yuzu immediately ceased operations after the judgment. The victory over Modded Hardware also comes shortly after Nintendo’s partnership with the FBI and Dutch authorities to shut down NSw2u, a piracy site that distributed pirated Switch ROMs. It marks the company’s second major anti-piracy win of the summer as Nintendo continues to push back against efforts to bypass its hardware protections.
Ahead of the release of Nintendo Switch 2, the company updated its account agreement to state that consoles modified without Nintendo’s approval can be permanently rendered unusable. The move highlights Nintendo’s reputation for aggressively defending its intellectual property, and it raises questions about what further actions the company may take as piracy tools evolve alongside new hardware. Evidently, Nintendo seems intent on upholding their reputation for ruthlessly opposing changes to their hardware, games, and IPs, which already limit how the community can influence the game.