Bowser owes Nintendo $10 million and it has nothing to do with Mario

Nintendo shows no mercy for hackers, modders and fan projects.

For a long time, Gary Bowser was in the sights of Nintendo’s lawyers. Then in February 2022 the handcuffs clicked: Der Hacker was sentenced to 40 months in prison and a $10 million fine.

What happened?

Bowser was a member of Xecuter, a hacking team. However, he did not put his hands on the software or hardware himself, but sold hacked video game consoles – including Nintendo’s Switch – on which users could ultimately play games for free.

Bowser made about $320,000 over seven years. The man also managed Team Xecuter’s websites and created online libraries of pirated video games.

Frenchman Max Louarn was arrested along with Bowser. He is said to be the head of the gang, which he denies. At the current time he was able to avoid extradition to the USA.

Bowser pays until the end of his life

Nintendo Everything reported in February 2022 that according to US Attorney Nick Brown, Nintendo suffered $65 million in damage from video game piracy by Xecuter.

Although Bowser has now been released from prison for good behavior, the Japanese company is still entitled to $ 10 million, which the man will have to pay until the end of his working life.

According to the convict, Nintendo is entitled to 25 to 30 percent of his gross monthly income for the rest of his working life. Like many American prisoners, Bowser was able to take part-time jobs during his time behind bars – that’s how he paid already $25 a month back. That makes a total of $175.

YouTuber NickMoses05 interviewed Gary Bowser right after his release:

Link to YouTube content

Nintendo is known for not only being tough on modders and fan projects, but also on hackers. In this case, they have once again impressively demonstrated that.

Sources: Kotaku, NintendoEverything

A member of a hacker gang has been serving his time in prison, but Nintendo won’t let the man off the hook. Do you think $10 million is justified for such a crime? Should one person have to pay for this at all? Or do you think the time in prison would have been punishment enough? Feel free to share your opinions in the comments.