Recently, the FBI launched a crackdown on the notorious Switch game piracy site Nsw2u, marking a clear indication of the international effort to ramp up the fight against game piracy. As one of the largest platforms for sharing Switch ROMs, Nsw2u allows users to download game files and play them on hacked Switch consoles or PC emulators without the need for a legal purchase. This operation was carried out under a search warrant issued by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, and the involvement of the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD) further underscores the commitment of international law enforcement agencies to combat game piracy.
Nsw2u currently displays a notice of seizure from the FBI, executed under the U.S. Code Title 18, Section 2323, and mentions the involvement of FIOD. Many users in the Switch Piracy discussion forum have revealed that the website was still operational before the seizure, indicating that it remained popular among users prior to the shutdown, with several users able to download games just hours before the site was taken down.
It’s worth noting that the Nsw2u website was included on the European Union’s piracy watchlist for the first time in May this year, highlighting its long-standing involvement in the illegal sharing of games, which has drawn increasing scrutiny. With Nintendo taking active measures against Switch piracy in recent years, including legal action against the popular Yuzu emulator, the company has made its firm stance on piracy clear. Yuzu allows players to run Switch games on devices such as PCs and the Valve Steam Deck, ultimately leading to the developers settling for $2.4 million.
Nintendo has also filed lawsuits against smaller websites that host ROM downloads for older systems, assisting players in bypassing the copyright protections of the Switch. For instance, in 2019, the company took legal action against the illegal ROM-sharing site RomUniverse, which offered subscription services for unlimited downloads of both new and classic Nintendo games.
Since the original Switch was hacked early in its release, popular games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom had their ROM files widely circulated online. Recently, with the launch of the Switch 2, players using unauthorized SD cards to store old Switch ROMs quickly found their new consoles banned from online services, showing that Nintendo is now cracking down on piracy more strictly than ever before.
Source: Kotaku
