A federal judge in Washington has ordered James Williams, a prominent moderator of the r/SwitchPirates subreddit known online as “Archbox,” to pay Nintendo of America $4.5 million in damages. The ruling, issued as a default judgment on September 23, 2026, follows Williams’ failure to respond to the lawsuit after being identified through Nintendo’s own customer service records.
The multimillion-dollar penalty is the result of a legal strategy that successfully linked Williams’ anonymous online persona to his real-world identity. Nintendo investigators were able to match the email address associated with the “Archbox” account to a hardware repair order in the company’s internal database. Williams had previously sent a Nintendo Switch console to the company for official repair, providing the name and physical address that eventually allowed Nintendo to serve him with legal papers in June 2024.
Statutory Damages and Affected Titles
The $4.5 million figure was reached by applying the maximum statutory damage amount of $150,000 for each of the 30 copyrighted titles named in the original complaint. According to GamesIndustry.biz, the list of affected software included major first-party releases such as Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Luigi’s Mansion 3, and Pikmin 4.
Under U.S. copyright law, statutory damages allow a plaintiff to seek a fixed financial penalty per infringed work without having to prove specific lost profits, provided the infringement is deemed willful. By failing to appear or contest the allegations in the Western District of Washington, Williams effectively conceded the claims, leading a federal judge in Washington to grant Nintendo the maximum possible award for the cited games.
Permanent Injunction and Shutdown
Beyond the financial judgment, the court issued a permanent injunction against Williams. This order requires the immediate cessation of all activities related to the distribution or facilitation of pirated Nintendo software. Specifically, Williams is ordered to disable access to all online “shops” he operated or managed that offered pirated Switch games.
The injunction also extends to Williams’ social media presence and community management roles. He is required to relinquish or shut down associated accounts used to promote or provide instructions for circumventing Nintendo’s technical protection measures. This judgment highlights an ongoing aggressive legal campaign by the console manufacturer against individual actors in the piracy ecosystem.
