Japanese video game company Nintendo has won a $2 million lawsuit against a website selling hacking tools that allow pirated games on its Switch console.
Nintendo filed a case against Uberchips for allegedly selling hardware and software that allow users to install and play games for free on its Switch video game console. Uberchips and the Japanese firm reached a settlement agreement worth $2 million.
Part of the settlement forces Uberchips to destroy all its inventory of hacking tools as well as hand over to Nintendo its domain name.
Team-Xecuter and SX OS
The hacking tools in question were created by hacking group Team-Xecuter, which Nintendo previously attempted to also file a case against.
Nintendo's piracy claims were denied by Team-Xecuter and the group even accused the video game company of legal scare tactics, censorship, and monopolistic control. Team-Xecuter is known for developing hacks that circumvent certain digital restrictions on Nintendo consoles.
In the past, Nintendo has taken multiple legal actions against the hacking group. The Japanese firm was able to take down several ISPs linked with the developer in the UK but it wasn't able to duplicate this success in other countries, including the US.
In response to Nintendo's actions, Team-Xecuter said it is not a “notorious piracy group” as the gaming company claims.
The hacking group said: "Of course, we are not happy with this kind of censorship that is being enforced by legal injunctions that make us out to be something we are not: a copyright-infringing ring of software pirates."
The group claimed that its SX Lite and SX Core products, which supposed to work on all consoles, including Switch Lite and Classic, were made to improve the Nintendo products. These tools are capable of expanding the storage space of the consoles and allowing users to run various open-source software, including Android and Linux.
"Our products allow the end-user to make legitimate backups of their original cartridges that they can keep to themselves and play, but this is only a very tiny subset of what the SX products allow you to do," Team-Xecuter explained.
Going after sellers
Uberchips, run by Ohio-based Tom Dilts Jr., is only one of a handful of stores that sold the tools. After Nintendo started the legal action, the Uberchips site went offline with a message reading: "An unfortunate set of events has happened."
The seller was prompted to cancel all pre-orders for its SX products and refund its customers. The settlement between the two companies is still pending approval from a judge.
Aside from Uberchips, Nintendo has also filed lawsuits against eight other operators allegedly selling Team-Xecuter products.
Increasing sales for Switch
The Switch is currently the flagship video game console of Nintendo. In January, it has overtaken the old Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in sales, becoming the company’s third best-selling home console of all time.
The Switch, which Nintendo launched in 2017, has sold over 52 million units in total, surpassing the SNES, which was introduced in 1990 in Japan and went on to sell 49 million units globally.
According to some analysts, Nintendo may have sold more Switch consoles than Microsoft’s Xbox One although Microsoft no longer releases sales reports for the device. Piers Harding-Rolls, an analyst for the IHS Markit consultancy, expected Switch console sales to surpass Xbox One in the first nine months of 2020.
