Hacker Gary Bowser settles lawsuit with Nintendo for $10 million

Canadian hacker and Team Xecuter member Gary Bowser agrees to pay Nintendo $10 million in damages. Bowser pays the damages for trading console mods, which can be used to play illegal games.

On Monday, Nintendo and Bowser reached a settlement in the lawsuit that Nintendo filed against Bowser. In addition to paying the damages, Bowser must cease any activity that infringes Nintendo’s copyright. He must also destroy all data and hardware related to this.

Several lawsuits have been filed against Bowser and in one of these lawsuits he confessed earlier this month that he sold modchips for the Switch. He must pay Nintendo $4.5 million for this and may also face a prison sentence. On top of this comes the $10 million settlement from last Monday’s ruling.

Bowser is said to have been a key player in Team Xecuter, which Nintendo describes as an ‘international network of piracy’. Bowser and another suspect were arrested in late 2020 for their involvement with Team Xecuter. In addition to dealing in the illegal mods, members of the team are also accused of fraud.

According to Nintendo, Bowser has been trading accessories since 2013 to evade the security of Nintendo consoles. In addition to mods for the Switch, Bowser and his team have also sold modchips for the 3DS and NES Classic Mini.