Nintendo of America has secured a $4.5 million default judgment against James C. Williams, known online as Archbox, in a lawsuit concerning the distribution of pirated Nintendo Switch games. The ruling, issued by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington on September 23, 2026, also imposes a permanent injunction against Williams.
The case dates back to June 2024, when Nintendo sued Williams over allegations that he operated online shops offering unauthorized copies of Switch games. According to the court filing, Nintendo alleged that Williams had distributed or facilitated the distribution of thousands of unauthorized copies and used circumvention software to enable access to them.
Court Orders $4.5 Million in Damages
The court awarded Nintendo the maximum statutory damages of $150,000 for each of 30 copyrighted games, bringing the total to $4.5 million. The court determined that the alleged infringement was willful and considered the amount reasonable given the scale of the activities described in Nintendo’s complaint.
The 30 games include major Nintendo releases such as Splatoon 2, Splatoon 3, Super Mario Odyssey, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, WarioWare: Move It! and Yoshi’s Crafted World.
The judgment was entered by default because Williams did not defend the lawsuit. The court noted that he had received notice of the proceedings and had even retained an attorney for a limited matter involving a third-party subpoena, but did not otherwise appear to defend the case.
Beyond the financial penalty, the court issued a permanent injunction prohibiting Williams from distributing unauthorized Nintendo games or software designed to circumvent Nintendo’s technological protections.
The order also requires him to disable online shops under his control that offered pirated Switch games. It extends to social media accounts, communications platforms and other services used to distribute Nintendo games or circumvention software.
The lawsuit highlights Nintendo’s continuing efforts to combat Switch piracy and the distribution tools that enable unauthorized copies of its games. The company has pursued several legal actions involving piracy in recent years, making the Archbox judgment another significant victory in its broader enforcement campaign.
