The FBI has escalated its efforts against video game piracy, confirming it has taken down multiple ROM-hosting websites in a coordinated crackdown that reportedly caused $170 million in losses to the industry over a recent three-month period.
This development follows the high-profile seizure of Nsw2u.com, a popular piracy site that had distributed Nintendo Switch game files. According to an official statement, this site was just one of several targeted in a larger operation aimed at dismantling online marketplaces trafficking in pre-release and pirated copies of major video game titles.
Between late February and late May 2025, the affected websites reportedly logged over 3.2 million downloads of pirated content, much of it made available ahead of official release dates.
In addition to Nsw2u, authorities also seized domains for other well-known sites, including:
- nswdl.com
- game-2u.com
- bigngame.com
- ps4pkg.com
- ps4pkg.net
- mgnetu.com
Each of these domains now displays a federal seizure notice indicating U.S. authorities have taken control.
The FBI collaborated with Dutch financial crime investigators to carry out the operation, which it says is part of an ongoing global effort to curb piracy in the gaming sector.
This action follows a broader pattern of legal victories for game publishers. Earlier this year, a French court ruled in favor of Nintendo, mandating that European file-sharing services remove pirated content upon request. In 2024, Nintendo also shut down the widely used Yuzu emulator, arguing it was enabling piracy “on a colossal scale.”
As piracy continues to evolve across borders and platforms, enforcement agencies appear to be ramping up international cooperation in response. For game developers and publishers, these efforts signal a renewed push to protect their intellectual property in a digital marketplace that’s increasingly hard to police.
thetechtrident.com 