Back on the 11th, news broke that the FBI had shuttered the Switch piracy site 'NSW2U'. Following this, the FBI issued a formal statement confirming that a total of seven illicit piracy sites have been taken offline. These platforms are estimated to have caused a staggering $170 million (approx. 234.3 billion KRW) in damages between February and May alone.

Over a three-month period from February to May, the FBI conducted a large-scale operation to shut down seven illegal video game distribution sites and dismantle their infrastructure. These seven sites inflicted losses of $170 million (approx. 234.3 billion KRW) on the industry, including Nintendo. The operation saw international cooperation with the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD).

The seven sites taken down include '[Suspicious Link Removed]', 'nswdl.com', 'game-2u.com', 'bigngame.com', 'ps4pkg.com', 'ps4pkg.net', and 'mgnetu.com'. The FBI's Atlanta Field Office confirmed that they have seized the domains and servers, frozen financial accounts, and blocked mirror sites to completely dismantle the infrastructure. Having operated for over four years, these sites distributed popular titles, sometimes leaking games ahead of their official release dates, which caused severe disruption to standard game marketing efforts.

The FBI stated that these seven sites recorded a total of 3.2 million illegal downloads during the three-month window from February 28 to May 28, a figure used to calculate the aforementioned damages. The shuttered sites were not limited to Nintendo Switch content but also illegally distributed games for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms.

This crackdown is particularly noteworthy as Nintendo has demonstrated an increasingly aggressive stance against piracy ahead of the anticipated Switch 2 launch. Nintendo has previously warned of strict measures against illicit usage, including the potential for hard-blocking consoles that show signs of tampering or unauthorized use on the Switch 2.

The FBI expressed gratitude to the Dutch FIOD for their cooperation in the investigation and signaled that they will continue to pursue a firm response against intellectual property theft.