Nintendo sues streamer who allegedly leaked many games ahead of release

Key Takeaways

• Nintendo is suing a Colorado resident who streamed pirated copies of Switch games.
• The company claims content creators have streamed footage of unreleased Switch games more than 50 times since 2022, and have even gone so far as to mock Nintendo after some of their channels were removed.
• Nintendo is seeking more than $7.5 million in damages.

nintendo sued a small-time content creator who allegedly live-streamed pirated Switch games for months before going on a street date. In addition to sharing unauthorized videos from people like: Mario and Luigi: Brotherhood and The Legend of Zelda: Echo of WisdomThe streamer even mocked the Japanese gaming giant's legal department.

The Switch was first jailbroken due to a physical vulnerability that was patched in 2018, shortly after its one-year anniversary. According to some legal claims Nintendo has made in the past, this has accelerated the development of console emulators and made it easier for pirates to spread Switch games even before their official release.

Some of these claims have now been repeated in a new lawsuit filed by Nintendo against Jesse Keighin, a Colorado resident who runs several social media channels called Every Game Guru. The complaint, filed in Colorado federal court on November 6 and first discovered by 404 Media, alleges that Keighin repeatedly infringed Nintendo's copyrights by live streaming unreleased Switch games. He continued to do so even after company lawyers filed “dozens” of copyright takedown notices, and has leaked a total of 10 Switch games more than 50 times since 2022, Nintendo claims.

The streamer mocked Nintendo's legal team after they removed his content.

After the game of cat and mouse had already been going on for some time, Keighin decided to mock the Switch manufacturer. “Defendant also emailed Nintendo stating that he had ‘a thousand burner channels’ and that he ‘could do this all day,’” the complaint states. In one of his most recent broadcasts, Keighin streamed: Super Mario Party Jamboree Nintendo claims the game will be released on Kick at least six days before its official launch on October 17th. The company said it also found evidence that he had been streaming the leaked version. The Legend of Zelda: Echo of Wisdom via YouTube on September 21, five days before the title officially hits digital and physical store shelves.

The defendant also emailed Nintendo, saying he had “a thousand burner channels” and “could do this all day.”

All gaming professionals are believed to have profited from illegal streams

Nintendo claims Keighin streamed pirated copies of most of its games, which he played through emulators. Additionally, he has been accused of sharing links to Switch emulators like Yuzu and Ryujinx as part of his streams, an action that Nintendo considers actively promoting piracy. The gaming giant said that after securing Keighin's monetized YouTube channel, which has about 1,730 subscribers, content creators began including the CashApp handle on their streams. This indicates that he remains adamant about continuing to profit from live streaming pirated Switch games.

Nintendo is now seeking millions of dollars in damages.

Nintendo is seeking $150,000 for every copyright infringement case Keighin is found guilty of. The plaintiffs claim the defendants streamed unreleased Switch games more than 50 times, meaning the total damages the defendants are seeking exceed $7.5 million.

Source: Nintendo [PDF]