Nintendo Sues Streamer That Reportedly Leaked Many Games Ahead of Release

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Key Takeaways

  • Nintendo is suing a Colorado resident for streaming pirated copies of Switch games.
  • The company claims that the content creator streamed footage from unreleased Switch games on over 50 occasions since 2022, and even went as far as to taunt Nintendo after some of his channels were taken down.
  • Nintendo is seeking over $7.5 million in damages.

As a longtime Nintendo fan and someone who has spent countless hours saving Princess Peach from Bowser’s clutches, I find it disheartening to see individuals like Jesse Keighin exploit the passion of the gaming community by streaming pirated copies of Nintendo games.

A small content creator is being taken to court by Nintendo for broadcasting pirated versions of upcoming Switch games, such as “Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time” and “The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom,” prior to their official release date. The streamer also mocked Nintendo’s legal team while sharing this unauthorized content.

In 2018, shortly after the one-year anniversary of its launch, a physical weakness was exploited to initially jailbreak The Switch. This vulnerability has since been fixed, but during that period, it significantly sped up the creation of emulators for the console and made it simpler for unauthorized individuals to share Switch games prematurely, as suggested by some legal claims made by Nintendo in previous instances.

In a fresh legal action against Jesse Keighin, a Colorado resident who runs several social media platforms known as Every Game Guru, Nintendo alleges that some of their previous accusations have been reiterated. The lawsuit, submitted to a federal court in Colorado on November 6 and initially noted by 404 Media, asserts that Keighin has persistently breached Nintendo’s copyright by broadcasting unpublished Switch games live. Despite Nintendo’s lawyers submitting numerous copyright takedown requests, Keighn reportedly continued this activity and has allegedly leaked ten Switch games over fifty times since 2022, according to Nintendo’s statements.

Streamer Taunted Nintendo’s Legal Team After Getting His Content Taken Down

After some time had passed in this ongoing game of cat and mouse, Keighin chose to provoke the maker of the Switch. The complaint states that he also emailed Nintendo, boasting that he possessed “a thousand burner channels” and could continue such actions indefinitely. In his latest broadcast, it is alleged that Keighin streamed the game “Super Mario Party Jamboree” via Kick at least six days prior to its official release on October 17, according to Nintendo’s claim. Furthermore, Nintendo asserts that they discovered proof of him streaming a leaked version of “The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom” via YouTube on September 21, five days before the game became available digitally and physically in stores.

As an enthusiastic admirer, I too penned an email to Nintendo, expressing my possession of numerous temporary accounts (thousands in total), and my readiness to continue this activity repeatedly.

Every Game Guru Was Allegedly Profiting From His Illegal Streams

Nintendo alleges that Keighin primarily streamed unauthorized versions of their games, which were run through an emulator. Moreover, he is said to have distributed links for emulators like Yuzu and Ryujinx during his streams, actions that Nintendo considers as actively endorsing piracy. The corporation stated that upon removing his monetized YouTube channel with approximately 1,730 subscribers, the content creator began incorporating a CashApp handle in his streams, indicating his resolve to continue earning money from live-streaming pirated Nintendo Switch games.

Nintendo’s Now Seeking Millions in Damages

Nintendo is requesting $150,000 for each proven instance of copyright violation committed by Keighin. Given that the plaintiff alleges that Keighin streamed unpublished Switch games over 50 times, this implies that the total compensation they’re seeking surpasses $7.5 million.

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2024-11-09 13:53