Summary
Nintendois suing a small content creator who allegedly spent months live-streaming pirated Switch games before their street date. Aside from sharing unauthorized footage from the likes ofMario and Luigi: BrothershipandThe Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, the streamer even taunted the Japanese gaming giant’s legal team.
The Switch was first jailbroken in 2018, shortly following its one-year release anniversary, thanks to a physical vulnerability that has since been patched. This accelerated the development of the console’s emulators, and made it easy for pirates to disseminate Switch games even before their official release, according tosome legal arguments Nintendo has made in the past.
Some of these claims have now been repeated in a new lawsuit that Nintendo filed against Jesse Keighin, a Colorado resident operating a number of social media channels called Every Game Guru. The complaint, filed in a Colorado federal court on November 6 and firstspottedby 404 Media, claims that Keighin has repeatedly violated Nintendo’s copyright by live-streamingunreleased Switch games. He continued to do so even after the company’s attorneys filed “dozens” of copyright takedown notices, and has overall leaked ten Switch games on more than 50 occasions since 2022, Nintendo claims.
Streamer Taunted Nintendo’s Legal Team After Getting His Content Taken Down
After this game of cat and mouse had already been going on for a while, Keighin even decided to taunt the Switch maker. “Defendant also emailed Nintendo stating that he had ‘a thousand burner channels’ and that he can ‘do this all day,'” the complaint reads. In one of his most recent broadcasts, Keighin streamedSuper Mario Party Jamboreevia Kick at least six days ahead of the game’s official release on October 17, Nintendo claims. The company says it also found evidence of him streaming a leaked version ofThe Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomvia YouTube on September 21, five days before that title officially hit digital and physical store shelves.
Defendant also emailed Nintendo stating that he had ‘a thousand burner channels’ and that he can ‘do this all day.’
Every Game Guru Was Allegedly Profiting From His Illegal Streams
Nintendo’s Now Seeking Millions in Damages
Nintendo is seeking $150,000 for every instance of copyright infringement that Keighin is found to be guilty of. Since the plaintiff claims that the defendant streamed unreleased Switch games on over 50 occasions, this would suggest that the total damages it’s demanding exceed $7.5 million.
