Significant arrests made as Nintendo’s piracy investigations continue

F.B.I. swoops on Team Xecuter

The Department of Justice has announced that three prominent members of long-time hack-maker Team Xecuter have been arrested, as Nintendo continues its fight against the selling and re-selling of “jailbreak” devices for its range of hardware.

Canadian Gary Bowser, Chinese national Yuanning Chen, and French National Max Louarn were apprehended by the F.B.I. in September. The trio face a total of 11 felony charges for the creation and distribution of Switch hacking devices such as the SX Core and SX Lite. Louran will be extradited to the U.S. to stand trial, while Bowser – who was deported from the Dominican Republic – appeared in a New Jersey federal court on Friday.

This news follows a successful lawsuit which saw hack seller Uberchips ordered to pay $2 million in damages to Nintendo for stocking Team Xecuter’s devices. Nintendo are currently investigating at least eight other retailers for similar offences, but due to the underground nature of the piracy market, the publisher is still to ascertain the identities of the store holders.

You can read the Department of Justice’s full report on the recent arrests right here.

Two members of piracy group Team Xecuter have been arrested [MyNintendoNews]