Bowser pleads guilty in Nintendo Switch hacking case

Gary Bowser was the Nintendo Switch hacker and pleaded guilty last year to federal prosecutors in a criminal matter. Bowser and Max Louarn, a French national, were arrested for their role in the hacking group known as Team Xecuter.

According to documents obtained from Torrent Freak, he pleaded guilty last week in a Seattle court. Bowser, a Canadian national and not related to Doug Bowser (or Mushroom Kingdom’s villain), confessed to being part of the plan to distribute and create tools to hack Nintendo Switch consoles. He would distribute the tools to customers who wanted Nintendo Switch game for nothing.

The plea agreement described Bowser’s role in marketing these devices and distributing them to retailers, for which he said he was paid up to $1,000 a month for. The plea agreement also says Team Xecuter “generated at least tens of millions of dollars” in selling the hacking devices, including a custom operating system that got players around Nintendo’s security features.

Bowser, with the guilty pleas of both parties, has agreed to $4.5 million in restitution to Nintendo and to continue cooperating with Team Xecuter’s ongoing investigations. The remaining 9 charges against Bowser will be dismissed if he fulfills the terms.

The case is independent of the earlier civil suit Nintendo filed against Bowser this year alleging copyright infringement in connection to Nintendo Switch hacking. Nintendo, at that time, described Team Xecuter as “an international pirate ring.” That case is still active. Nintendo seeks damages in the amount of $2,500 per trafficked device and $150,000 each for copyright violations.