FBI seizes domain of major Nintendo Switch piracy website
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has seized the domain of “Nsw2u”, one of the largest websites facilitating the piracy of Nintendo Switch games.
International media outlets reported the shutdown on Friday, July 11th.
Visitors attempting to access the “Nsw2u” website are now met with an official notice stating that the domain has been seized by the law enforcement agency.
The site was a major hub for illegally distributing digital copies of Switch games, often referred to as ROMs.
These files could be downloaded and played for free on a modified Nintendo Switch console or on a PC using emulator software.
This action represents a significant development in Nintendo’s long-running and multifaceted campaign against copyright infringement.
The company has been actively targeting “Nsw2u” for years through various legal and regulatory channels.
In 2021, Nintendo won a court case in the United Kingdom that compelled six of the country’s largest internet service providers to block access to “Nsw2u” and a similar site.
More recently, in May of 2025, the website’s name was officially added to the European Union’s piracy watchlist.
The FBI’s involvement signals a major escalation, moving the fight from civil courts and regulatory bodies to direct law enforcement action.
The seizure notice indicates the operation was conducted in accordance with a warrant and involved cooperation with international partners, including Dutch authorities.
Nintendo has consistently taken a hard-line stance against piracy, recently updating its user agreements to more explicitly forbid the practice and the use of unauthorized hardware modifications.
The company has also pursued legal action against the developers of Switch emulators like Yuzu and has taken steps to acquire the domains of others, such as Ryujinx.
This latest move by the FBI is expected to have a significant chilling effect on the Switch piracy scene, demonstrating a new level of enforcement and international cooperation.
While Nintendo is cracking down on hardware modifications on its modern consoles, a growing number of third-party manufacturers are cloning Nintendo’s older hardware.
This is leading to a wave of clone consoles such as the new “16-BIT COMPACT HD”. These consoles add modern features such as HDMI while retaining the ability to play original game cartridges.
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