FBI takes down big Nintendo Switch piracy site [update: FBI statement]

July 10: Today, it was revealed that the FBI has taken down Nsw2u, a website connected with piracy on Nintendo Switch.

Nsw2u housed plenty of ROMs for games on the console. If you had a hacked Nintendo Switch or a working PC emulator, some could download content from the site and play those titles without legally purchasing them.

The FBI went after the website in “accordance with a seizure warrant issued pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 2323 issued by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia as part of a law enforcement operation and action by the Federal Bureau of Investigation”. This notice is provided when attempting to access Nsw2u. Dutch agency FIOD was also involved in the takedown.

Piracy has been an ongoing battle for Nintendo over the years. During the Switch era, things seemed to ramp up, in part because the system was hacked early on. One of the more recent developments involved Nintendo filing two lawsuits against Modded Hardware with the sale of mod chips and MIG devices as well as James Williams who was said to be involved with “pirate shops” that distribute unauthorized games. Nintendo also went after populator Nintendo Switch emulators Yuzu and Ryujinx.

July 12: The FBI has now shared a statement about the takedown, which includes other sites as well. We have it below.

The FBI’s Atlanta Field Office announced today the seizure of several online criminal marketplaces providing pirated versions of popular video games.

In addition to the seizure, the FBI has dismantled the infrastructure of these websites.

For more than four years, the websites contained pirated copies of highly anticipated video games days or weeks before their official release date.

Between February 28, 2025, and May 28, 2025, records indicate a total of 3.2 million downloads occurred on these sites from the most used download service. These actions resulting in an estimated loss of $170 million.

As part of the actions announced today, the FBI has obtained authorization to seize the domain of multiple sites, to include nsw2u.com, nswdl.com, game-2u.com, bigngame.com, ps4pkg.com, ps4pkg.net, and mgnetu.com. These domains hosted and facilitated access to the pirated video games. Anyone visiting these sites will now view a seizure banner that notifies them the domain has been seized by federal authorities.

The FBI would like to thank the Dutch FIOD for their assistance in this investigation.