Team Xecuter Leader Gary Bowser Sentenced: Nintendo Switch Piracy Crackdown Marks $15M in Fines

Team Xecuter Leader Gary Bowser Sentenced: Nintendo Switch Piracy Crackdown Marks $15M in Fines In a significant legal victory for Nintendo of America and the broader gaming industry, Gary Bowser—an identified leader of the Switch hacking group Team Xecuter—has been sentenced to 40 months in federal prison for conspiring to pirate Nintendo Switch games and traffic in circumvention devices.

This decision comes alongside a hefty financial penalty, with Bowser ordered to pay a total of $15 million in fines and restitution to Nintendo of America. The charges against Bowser include "Conspiracy to Circumvent Technological Measures and to Traffic in Circumvention Devices" as well as "Trafficking in Circumvention Devices," both recognized as federal felonies under United States law.

Team Xecuter was widely known for producing and distributing devices that bypassed the Nintendo Switch’s security features, allowing users to enable unauthorized game modifications and to play pirated content. A 51-year-old Canadian national, Gary Bowser was apprehended in the Dominican Republic and subsequently extradited to face justice in the United States.

Despite a prosecution request recommending a five-year sentence, U.S.

District Court ultimately handed down a 40-month term.

Bowser also agreed to a two-part settlement with Nintendo: a $4.5 million payment as restitution and a further $10 million designated as "monetary relief." In an official statement issued by the Department of Justice, U.S.

Attorney Nick Brown underscored the far-reaching consequences of the group’s illegal activities.

According to Brown, Team Xecuter’s operations resulted in losses exceeding $65 million for video game companies.

Brown added that the impact extended well beyond financial figures, stating that piracy undermines the hard work of both established publishers and "small, creative studios whose products and efforts are essentially stolen when their games are pirated." Federal prosecutors drew particular attention to the damaging ripple effect of video game piracy on independent developers, highlighting that "when circumvention devices are made readily available, both the video game industry and the broader economy are negatively impacted." The statement continued, noting that piracy diminishes incentives to innovate and could lead to a less dynamic gaming ecosystem. Two other group members—Max Louarn of France and Yuanning Chen of China—have also been charged in connection to Team Xecuter’s activities, though they currently remain outside U.S.

custody.

Bowser himself has been held in federal detention since September 2020. Nintendo has pursued a robust legal stance against piracy to protect its intellectual property, game sales, and the interests of its developers on the Nintendo Switch platform.

The outcome of this case not only reinforces Nintendo’s commitment to upholding copyright protections but also stands as a warning to other groups contemplating similar illegal activities.

As video game sales and eShop usage continue to define success on hardware platforms like the Nintendo Switch, the industry’s stance against piracy remains firm. (Source: justice.gov, polygon.com)

Nintendo Switch Gary Bowser Team Xecuter Bowser Nintendo Switch