FBI Nukes NSW2U—Major Nintendo Switch Piracy Hub Goes Dark in Midnight Raid

The feds just flipped the kill switch on Nintendo's piracy nightmare.

FBI agents executed a surprise takedown of NSW2U—the notorious one-stop shop for pirated Switch games—sending shockwaves through underground gaming forums. No more free rides for digital shoplifters.

Behind the scenes: This wasn't some amateur operation. NSW2U reportedly hosted thousands of cracked titles, costing developers millions in lost revenue (not that Wall Street hedge funds would notice—they're too busy shorting GameStop again).

The fallout? A wake-up call for piracy sites banking on anonymity, and a win for Nintendo's legal team that now rivals their R&D budget. Next move: Watch for copycats to rise—and get smacked down—in this endless game of whack-a-mole.

This effort adds to Nintendo’s ongoing campaign targeting unauthorized distribution of its software in recent months. It follows Nintendo’s own measures to RENDER non-functional any Switch 2 unit equipped with third-party storage tools.

On its main page, an official seizure notice proclaims “This domain has been seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in accordance with a seizure warrant issued pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 2323 issued by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia as part of a law enforcement operation and action by the Federal Bureau of Investigation [and] Fiscal Information and Investigation Service.”

FIOD, part of the Dutch government’s financial crime division, hints that the domain’s operators had a base in the Netherlands.

Nintendo has a tough stance on game piracy

In May, regional authorities across Europe had already restricted entry to NSW2U.com following its addition to an EU watchlist. Now, after the FBI raid, the domain appears permanently shuttered.

Nintendo has maintained a strict anti-piracy stance, often seeking hefty financial penalties and criminal prosecutions.

In 2021, authorities handed down a 40-month prison term to Gary Bowser, along with a $14.5 million penalty, for facilitating Team Xecuter’s sale of devices that enabled game infringement. He acted as the marketing and public relations coordinator for the group.

Although charges were brought against Max Louarn and Yuanning Chen, only Bowser stood trial and was convicted in the U.S.; Chen evaded arrest, and Louarn never faced extradition. Upon his release in 2023, Bowser remained liable for the sizable financial judgment, as per IGN.

Moreover, Nintendo now disables Switch 2 consoles if it detects any third-party hardware. This upset used-console buyers and prompted Brazilian regulators to challenge the rule as too harsh.

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