Nintendo of America won a $4.5 million default judgment against James C. Williams, known online as “Archbox,” in federal court in Washington on September 23, 2026. The court also permanently barred Williams and people acting under his direction from distributing or promoting unauthorized Nintendo games and circumvention software, and ordered him to disable the channels used for that activity. The case concerned alleged piracy and circumvention—not every form of console modification.
What the court ordered
In Nintendo of America Inc. v. Williams, No. 2:24-cv-00960, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington awarded Nintendo $4.5 million in statutory copyright damages. The September 23, 2026 order also imposed a permanent injunction. Read Document 29, the court’s order.
The injunction applies to Williams and people acting under his direction or control. It bars them from distributing or promoting unauthorized copies of Nintendo games and software or services designed to circumvent technological measures controlling access to Nintendo games or consoles. It also directs Williams to disable relevant shops, social accounts, communications platforms, and other channels used to distribute or promote the covered materials. It does not, by its terms, bind every modder or retailer.
Why Nintendo received $4.5 million
The award was calculated as $150,000 in statutory damages for each of 30 copyrighted titles, the statutory maximum Nintendo requested for each title. Games identified among those at issue include The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The order’s figure is an award, not proof that Nintendo has collected the money.
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Why the default posture matters
Williams did not answer Nintendo’s complaint, and the court entered judgment by default. Judge Lauren King wrote that “Williams’ egregious infringement activities merit substantial punishment here,” as quoted in TorrentFreak’s September 25, 2026 report. This was a win for Nintendo in this case, but it was not an adversarial merits trial testing every allegation. It should not be read as a definitive ruling that all console modification is unlawful.
How this differs from other Nintendo cases
Other Nintendo anti-circumvention actions involve different defendants, courts, and procedural outcomes. Their dollar amounts are not directly comparable without considering what each case decided and how it ended.
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| Case | Defendant and jurisdiction | Outcome and posture |
|---|---|---|
| Nintendo of America Inc. v. Williams (2026) | James C. Williams; U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington | $4.5 million statutory-damages award and permanent injunction entered by default after Williams did not answer. The court did not resolve the case after a contested merits trial. |
| Modded Hardware / Ryan Michael Daly (2025) | Ryan Michael Daly; U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington | $2 million stipulated judgment in a separate case. GameSpot’s September 8, 2025 report describes the settlement. |
| MIG Switch case (2026) | A seller in the Netherlands; District Court of The Hague | Nintendo reported that the court ordered the seller to stop offering and selling MIG Switch Cards, MIG Switch Dumpers, and other products circumventing Nintendo’s technological protection measures. This is a separate case and jurisdiction; Nintendo Life’s September 11, 2026 report attributes the account to Nintendo. |
Where to find the games named in the case
Readers looking for the games identified in the case can choose legitimate retail copies of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, or Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
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