Nintendo has taken a strict stance against third-party cartridges on the Switch 2, even when they are not used for piracy. Within less than a month of the Switch 2’s release, Nintendo has enforced harsh measures to prevent piracy on the new console. Several Switch 2 users have reported online that their consoles were banned after using third-party cartridges, with some players noting that these cartridges were previously used to store illegal ROMs.
According to The Verge, Nintendo has banned consoles using the MIGSwitch cartridge, which can store ROMs obtained illegally or downloaded from a player’s personal library. Nintendo does not differentiate the source of the ROMs; once a MIGSwitch cartridge is detected, the console is permanently banned from online access.
YouTube channel ScatteredBrain highlighted in a report that even restoring the Switch 2 to factory settings does not lift the ban. Nintendo considers the use of MIGSwitch cartridges a violation of the Switch 2 user agreement, and violators face severe consequences.
This move is not unexpected, as Nintendo has a history of cracking down on piracy. Last year, Nintendo aggressively pursued a suspect involved in selling hardware hacking tools and modified Switch consoles preloaded with pirated games. Former pirate Gary Bowser was sentenced to prison and ordered to pay millions in damages to Nintendo, with repayment stretching over several years.
