After hack: Nintendo launched new switch model to protect against pirates

On By Garmin Philip
The Switch had to be modified in 2018 to make hacking software incompatible.



The Switch had to be modified in 2018 to make hacking software incompatible.

The Nintendo Switch was released in March 2017 and the console was hacked in early 2018. As a result, individual and stolen software could be installed on the device. Last year, one of the hackers from the group “Team Xecutor”, also known as Gary Bowser, ended up in the dock. According to court documents on the case, Nintendo released a new model of the Switch in 2018 to protect the hardware from pirates.

Safe Switch costs Nintendo millions

In the documents, Nintendo says it was forced to create a new version of the Switch in response to one of the hacking tools involved in the case (via axios):

This modification cost us countless hours of development as well as an adjustment of our worldwide production and distribution chains and – of course – corresponding resources. To be clear, this impact resulted directly from the defendant’s and Team Xecutor’s attack on our technical protections.

The document does not specifically mention which model it is, but it is known that in 2018 a new version of the switch was released, the Tegra chip of which was equipped with additional security measures. According to Nintendo, this revision of the hardware cost around 65 million dollars. Loss from potential missed software sales is not included here.

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Hacker goes to jail

For Gary Bowser, the court case ended up in a cell. The hacker, one of the masterminds behind Team Xecutor, was sentenced to 40 months in prison – the prosecution asked for 60 months, the defense 19.

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According to Nintendo’s attorney Ajay Singh, the company wanted the maximum penalty to “educate the public.” So Nintendo wanted to set a precedent to deter other hackers. This view was apparently shared by Judge Robert Lasnik, who considered the case “an important role in terms of a message” to the public.

The hacker himself did not believe that the verdict could deter anyone: “There is so much money to be made from piracy,” Bowser said in court. A possible prison sentence is “insignificant” in comparison.

Reference-www.gamepro.de