The Switch 2 hasn’t even been out for a month yet, but Nintendo is already taking strong measures to make sure pirates can’t use the company’s new console. Switch 2 owners are sharing stories online that their systems have been banned after using a third-party cartridge that some players have reportedly used for illegal ROMs.
As reported by The Verge, Nintendo has been targeting systems that have used a MIG Switch cartridge, which can store ROMs that were either illicitly obtained or downloaded from players’ personal libraries. Nintendo doesn’t appear to have drawn a distinction about how the ROMs ended up in players’ hands. If Nintendo detects the MIG Switch, the consoles in question are banned from going online forever.
The YouTube channel Scattered Brain shared its own report about the issue, and notes that even restoring the Switch 2 to factory settings can’t undo the ban. Nintendo considers using the MIG Switch cartridge a violation of the Switch 2 End User License Agreement, and the penalty is a pricey lesson for anyone who doesn’t heed the warning.
In retrospect, these measures shouldn’t be too surprising considering that Nintendo went to great lengths to find an alleged Switch pirate last year who the company accused of selling hardware hacks and offering modified Switch consoles with pirated games. Former Switch pirate Gary Bowser was also hit with prison time and a multi-million judgment against him, which he will be paying to Nintendo for the foreseeable future.