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Nintendo Now Permanently Banning Switch Users With Illegal Games
Oh no you Nintendon't.
Nintendo is cracking down on Switch piracy with new security measures that can "perfectly detect" whether a game has been installed illegally.
Redditor SciresM, who broke down the new anti-piracy measures, says that when you go online with the Switch, "Nintendo can detect whether or not the user connecting has data from a Nintendo-authorised gamecard for the correct title." If your game is legitimate, your console retrieves a unique certification (or ticket) to allow you to play the title online.
If you're caught with a pirated game cartridge, your game cartridge will be banned for online use and you could be potentially permanently banned from the Nintendo Network. Digital pirated games appear to automatically trigger a ban.
Looks like we've got confirmation that Nintendo is banning gamecart certificates (I guess people aren't taking my advice...). The relevant error for trying to use a gamecard with a banned cert is 0x1F727C -- 2124-4025.
— Michael (@SciresM) June 20, 2018
SciresM goes on to explain that Nintendo "perfectly prevents online piracy," because, due to "a fair amount of other, unknown (encrypted) data" in these certificates, it is quite easy for Nintendo to detect when a game is being shared. Nintendo can verify whether the device ID associated with the certification matches the device ID for the device that's trying to connect. If they aren't the same, then it results in the game being banned from online services. In addition, these certifications cannot be forged.
However, SciresM doesn't mention if illegally obtained games could work offline, but his explanation seems to insinuate these measures only apply to games that connect to online services.
Nintendo's tougher measures are likely in response to a security issue a few months ago which saw two unpatchable exploits in the Switch hardware being publicly revealed.
According to the company's website, Nintendo's take a strong stance against video game piracy.
"Nintendo opposes those who benefit and trade off the creative work of game developers, artists, animators, musicians, motion capture artists and others," the website reads. "Piracy continues to be a significant threat to Nintendo's business, as well as to the businesses of more than 1,400 game development companies that work to provide games for Nintendo systems. Most importantly, game developers and publishers depend on the legitimate sales of their games in order to survive.
"Piracy discourages innovation and new game development; it can also lead to a reduction in the number of jobs available within the industry, all of which ultimately impacts the consumer."
Vic is a freelance news writer for IGN. Often found force-feeding people The Sims or gifting PlayerUnknown potato bread. You can follow her on Twitter.