A legal battle is brewing between Nintendo and an alleged Nintendo Switch modder, Ryan Daly, who reportedly owns and operates the modding business Modded Hardware. Nintendo, known for its stringent defense of intellectual property, filed a lawsuit against Daly’s business in July 2024. The gaming giant claims the company not only provides hardware and firmware to hack the Nintendo Switch for playing pirated games but also distributes pirated copies of popular titles like Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Metroid.
Daly, however, is taking an unconventional approach to this high-stakes lawsuit: he is representing himself without legal counsel and has largely denied Nintendo’s claims. According to a report from Torrent Freak, Daly has dismissed the allegations, including his ownership of Modded Hardware, by simply stating “denied” in court filings. He also claims a lack of sufficient information to either confirm or deny many of the lawsuit’s key points.
In his defense, Daly has put forward a wide range of legal arguments, including fair use, invalid copyrights, lack of standing, and fraudulent inducement. He also invoked an arbitration clause, which could suggest an attempt to resolve the case outside of court, as well as citing unjust enrichment. Despite these broad defenses, the lawsuit is set to proceed through the discovery phase, where Nintendo will request documents, depositions, and further evidence from the defendant.
Nintendo’s Case Against Modded Hardware
Nintendo’s legal action follows a failed attempt to negotiate with Daly earlier this year. According to the lawsuit, Daly and Nintendo had initially reached an agreement in March 2024 to cease Modded Hardware’s operations, with the company allegedly receiving a final warning from Nintendo in May 2024. However, Modded Hardware continued to operate, leading Nintendo to escalate the situation with a lawsuit filed in federal court in Seattle, Washington. The company is seeking the immediate closure of the business and financial damages.
Nintendo claims that Modded Hardware enables the creation and playing of pirated Nintendo Switch games, which it argues directly supports illegal marketplaces that distribute pirated copies of games. The lawsuit alleges that Modded Hardware sells pre-hacked Nintendo Switch consoles loaded with pirated games, giving users access to some of the most popular Nintendo titles without purchasing legitimate copies.
“Indeed, because pirated Nintendo Switch games cannot be used or created without a hacked console and related software and hardware, it is only because of products and services such as those sold by Defendant that illegal marketplaces distributing pirated games exist and thrive,” Nintendo’s lawsuit claims.
Nintendo’s Track Record in Similar Cases
Nintendo has a history of taking legal action against businesses that facilitate piracy of its products. The gaming giant has won numerous cases, including lawsuits against RomUniverse, a game file-sharing website that was ordered to pay $2.1 million in damages in 2021. Another case in 2018 saw Nintendo awarded over $12 million in damages.
More recently, Nintendo successfully halted the launch of the Dolphin emulator on the PC gaming platform Steam, which was designed to emulate Nintendo’s GameCube and Wii consoles. In another high-profile case, the company targeted the creators of the Yuzu emulator, which had allowed players to pirate Nintendo Switch games, including “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” before its official release. That game alone had reportedly been pirated over one million times.
What’s Next for Daly and Modded Hardware?
With Daly representing himself and denying all wrongdoing, the lawsuit will likely be closely watched by the gaming industry and legal experts. Given Nintendo’s history of aggressive legal action and the fact that Daly has no legal representation, the odds are stacked against him. The case will move forward to the discovery phase, where both sides will gather evidence, including testimony and documentation, to support their claims.
Nintendo’s lawsuit is yet another example of the company’s uncompromising stance against piracy and copyright infringement. As the case unfolds, it will be interesting to see how Daly’s unconventional defense fares in the face of one of the largest and most powerful gaming companies in the world.
This case underscores the high stakes of intellectual property protection in the gaming industry and the lengths to which companies like Nintendo will go to safeguard their content.
