Nintendo of America has targeted another ROM site with a lawsuit filed against RomUniverse. The ROM site, according to Nintendo, is “built largely on brazen and mass scale infringement” of Nintendo’s properties. Nintendo called the site a “notorious” hub for the distribution of pirated Nintendo games across almost the entire spectrum of devices Nintendo has released. RomUniverse is the latest site to be targeted by the company that’s previously taken a strong stance against online piracy of its games.
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According to the lawsuit from Nintendo which was obtained by Polygon, the company says RomUniverse “offers at least 247 pirated Nintendo Switch games and more than 3,000 pirated Nintendo 3DS games.” While ROM catalogs vary from site to site, that’s no small collection and could amount to millions of dollars in paid damages is Nintendo’s lawsuit works out as the company has outlined. In the section of the lawsuit where Nintendo lists the reliefs it’s seeking, it said it was entitled to $150,000 for each infringement of its works and $2 million for each infringement of the Nintendo of America trademark.
The games referenced above are just for the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS as well. RomUniverse’s site shows categories for the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, various Game Boy devices, the NES, and more. Nintendo says the site has downloads for “thousands of other games for nearly every other Nintendo video game system” beyond its main two games are currently being made for.
While many ROM sites give away the files for free, Nintendo also pointed out that RomUniverse has a membership option where it charges users for the chance to download games. A “Premium Membership” is offered by the site, according to Nintendo which allows users to “download an unlimited number of pirated games, with higher speeds than non-members” for $30 a year. Those who don’t pay the subscription price can only download one game before being required to sign up if they want more.
Those who’ve followed Nintendo’s litigious history towards ROM sites and others who offer pirated games will recall that two other groups were prominently targeted for their alleged distribution of Nintendo’s games. Earlier this year, Nintendo directed its attention towards the fan-made Super Mario battle royale game and reportedly told the creator that, despite them having changed the game to look less like a Mario experience, it still infringed on Nintendo’s copyrights. The game was ultimately taken offline by its creator.
