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The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has seized domain names of several websites associated with pirated games. In particular, NSW2U[.]com, which Nintendo has been fighting against for years, was shut down.
According to TorrentFreak , the operation was carried out in cooperation with other law enforcement agencies, including the Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (a division of the country's Tax and Customs Service, Belastingdienst). It is not yet known whether the case was limited to the confiscation of domains or whether arrests and charges were made as part of the operation.
The FBI seized several domain names associated with known pirate sites, including NSW2U[.]com, Game-2u[.]com, Bigngame[.]com, ps4pkg[.]com, mgnetu[.]com and nswdl[.]com.
Law enforcement officials report that between February 28, 2025, and May 28, 2025, 3.2 million downloads were made through these sites. The estimated losses to copyright holders are estimated at $170 million.
Now, visitors to these resources are greeted by a law enforcement banner notifying them of the domain seizure. The DNS servers have also been updated to point to fbi.seized.gov, which had previously been used in a similar manner. The publication notes that NSW2U[.]com was added to the list of known pirate sites by the US Trade Representative (USTR) in early 2025, and three other domains were mentioned in documents as “associated sites.” Typically, USTR relies on the opinion of copyright holders in such matters. In this case, these domains were pointed out by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), an American association of software and computer game makers. In its recommendation, the ESA reported that NSW2U linked to game-2u[.]com, ps4pkg[.]com, and BigNGame[.]com, which also provide access to pirated games. Journalists write that the connection between the domains is quite real. The fact is that NSW2U is mainly focused on releases for the Nintendo Switch and was linked to other domains specializing in other platforms. According to the ESA, which represents the interests of Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, NSW2U hosted thousands of links to pirated games. Among them were many well-known titles that were leaked before the official release date.
[td]"This 'pre-release' piracy is particularly damaging to ESA member companies because it allows site users to download pirated copies of video games before consumers have had the opportunity to select and purchase a legitimate copy," the association said.[/td]
According to TorrentFreak , the operation was carried out in cooperation with other law enforcement agencies, including the Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (a division of the country's Tax and Customs Service, Belastingdienst). It is not yet known whether the case was limited to the confiscation of domains or whether arrests and charges were made as part of the operation.
The FBI seized several domain names associated with known pirate sites, including NSW2U[.]com, Game-2u[.]com, Bigngame[.]com, ps4pkg[.]com, mgnetu[.]com and nswdl[.]com.
Law enforcement officials report that between February 28, 2025, and May 28, 2025, 3.2 million downloads were made through these sites. The estimated losses to copyright holders are estimated at $170 million.
Now, visitors to these resources are greeted by a law enforcement banner notifying them of the domain seizure. The DNS servers have also been updated to point to fbi.seized.gov, which had previously been used in a similar manner. The publication notes that NSW2U[.]com was added to the list of known pirate sites by the US Trade Representative (USTR) in early 2025, and three other domains were mentioned in documents as “associated sites.” Typically, USTR relies on the opinion of copyright holders in such matters. In this case, these domains were pointed out by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), an American association of software and computer game makers. In its recommendation, the ESA reported that NSW2U linked to game-2u[.]com, ps4pkg[.]com, and BigNGame[.]com, which also provide access to pirated games. Journalists write that the connection between the domains is quite real. The fact is that NSW2U is mainly focused on releases for the Nintendo Switch and was linked to other domains specializing in other platforms. According to the ESA, which represents the interests of Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, NSW2U hosted thousands of links to pirated games. Among them were many well-known titles that were leaked before the official release date.