Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life
A major Switch ROM site – ‘nsw2u’ – has been seized by the FBI as part of a ‘law enforcement operation’.
As reported by Kotaku, nsw2u was one of the better-known repositories of Switch ROMS, which allowed users with hacked Switch consoles to download first and third-party games at will; often before their official release dates. In other words, then, it’s a website that Nintendo was probably keen to vaporise quicker than Thanos snapping his fingers.
The full message reads:
“This domain has been seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation 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: Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
Nintendo has been very strict in recent years over piracy related to Switch software, including taking possession of the Ryujinx emulator site in 2024 and winning a legal case against the lead moderator of the r/SwitchPirates subreddit.
It’s not clear at this stage what might happen with nsw2u in the long run, but we’d wager that the site probably won’t be coming back online anytime soon.
Image: FBI
Regarding the Switch 2, it became clear soon after launch that those utilising MiG carts would be banned from online services on the console. This drew the attention of Brazil’s consumer rights watchdog, who filed a complaint with Nintendo arguing that the latter’s policy violates users’ rights to access the services that they’ve paid for.
Do you reckon the ‘nsw2u’ site is gone for good after this recent seizure? Let us know your thoughts with a comment down below.
[source kotaku.com]
Nintendo Life’s resident horror fanatic, when he’s not knee-deep in Resident Evil and Silent Hill lore, Ollie likes to dive into a good horror book while nursing a lovely cup of tea. He also enjoys long walks and listens to everything from TOOL to Chuck Berry.