Nintendo wins against the pirate: the streamer must pay $17,500 for showing illegal games before their release!

Nintendo once again proves that the fight against piracy is not just a matter of law for them, but also of brand reputation. The company won a lawsuit against the streamer Jesse "Every Game Guru" Keighin, who for the past two years had been live streaming leaks of Nintendo games — even before their official releases.

50 broadcasts from leaks

According to a lawsuit filed in November 2024, Keighin had illegally streamed over 50 times titles obtained through leaks, including Mario & Luigi: Brothership and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom.

Nintendo reported violations on YouTube, Twitch, and Kick, but the streamer did not give up. He used modified consoles and emulators to showcase gameplay from leaks and also shared links to Yuzu and Ryujinx emulators, encouraging viewers to engage in pirated play.

“I have a thousand spare channels”

In court documents, Nintendo revealed that Keighin sent a letter to the company in which he openly bragged about having “a thousand burner channels”, from which he would continue to broadcast.

The court had no doubts – Keighin, who did not appear at the hearing, was ordered to pay $17,500 in damages.

Judgment and restrictions

Nintendo accused the streamer of “trading in circumvention devices” and “millions in losses from lost sales.”

Although the court agreed with the company and imposed a ban on further infringements of rights, it rejected the request for destruction of the equipment, deeming it “vague and unjustified” — especially as Nintendo was unable to specify what exactly the “devices” were and who else had used them.

Another case: Redditor "Archbox"

This is not the first such move from the Japanese. A month earlier, Nintendo of America sued a Reddit user named "Archbox" (James C. Williams), demanding as much as 4.5 million dollars for piracy, distribution of Switch games and promoting software to run them.

Commentary: a strong signal for the emulator scene

The Keighin case shows one thing — Nintendo does not intend to turn a blind eye even to smaller streamers or individual users.

The company has maintained for years that emulators, leaks, and "modded" consoles pose a real threat to sales and game developers. Now this message has been sent out particularly loudly: playing leaks is not only a risk of a ban but also a very costly finale.