Nintendo is cracking down on Switch 2 mods, bans target reprogrammable cartridges

[Alfonso Maruccia]

Facepalm: Besides offering a substantial hardware upgrade and exciting new features, the Switch 2 is also shaping up to be a decidedly anti-modding platform. The new console includes robust anti-piracy measures, and users are already starting to feel the effects on their accounts.

Multiple reports confirm what many suspected from the start: Nintendo is actively working to block "easy" modding attempts and prevent potential piracy on its new console.

Nintendo certainly isn't losing money on Switch 2 sales – millions of gamers have already purchased the system within just a few days. However, some who tried to run backup copies of their legally purchased games found themselves abruptly banned from online services as a result.

My Switch 2 test has been banned, after using the mig switch with perfectly legal dumps of my own cartridges, so it would seem that Nintendo can detect something
Similar reports on reddit are starting to come in.https://t.co/nbPMlRWSaPhttps://t.co/3eq6dkbFMi
I strongly… pic.twitter.com/btzjQYJzE4

– SwitchTools (@SwitchTools) June 16, 2025

Several users have confirmed that using the Mig Switch (now known as Mig Flash) cartridge on the Switch 2 can result in an unexpected ban from Nintendo. The Mig Switch is a reprogrammable cartridge that mimics a genuine Switch game card, with the added benefit of extracting ROMs and storing multiple games on a single microSD card.

There are legitimate reasons someone might want to extract backups of their legally purchased Switch games, and the Mig Switch cartridge doesn't appear to modify or tamper with the console's firmware. Yet, attempting to play a legal game dump is now enough for Nintendo to flag and ban an account for potentially unauthorized activity.

While using the Mig Switch was already risky in the past, the Switch 2 has made things even more challenging for the modding community.

Some Switch 2 owners report that the console itself can be banned, but online accounts appear to remain unaffected – at least for now. A banned console loses access to all internet services, meaning players can no longer engage in multiplayer matches, access the eShop for digital purchases, watch YouTube, or store game saves in the cloud.

Released on June 5, 2025, the Switch 2 will likely remain on the market for years to come. Nintendo could choose to lift bans on affected consoles in the future, or things might remain as they are now. Using the Mig Switch or other modding tools on a brand new console was always a daring move, and it's even riskier now that it's clear Nintendo is actively policing for piracy and EULA violations.

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Nintendo is cracking down on Switch 2 mods, bans target reprogrammable cartridges

 

[Theinsanegamer]

It is morally and ethically correct to pirate Nintendo’s stuff. Stop buying their garbage.

 

[gamerk2]

The DMCA explicitly protects against making backups of digital data; Nintendo has ZERO legal right to do this under US law. This is Nintendo trying to throw its weight around, as per usual.

 

[umeng2002]

The DMCA explicitly protects against making backups of digital data; Nintendo has ZERO legal right to do this under US law. This is Nintendo trying to throw its weight around, as per usual.

Your first clause contradicts the second in your first sentence.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Your first clause contradicts the second in your first sentence.

no it doesn't.

 

[Kotters]

no it doesn't.

Yes it does. Protecting against something means preventing it or acting contrary to it. Protecting against making backups means it prevents, makes difficult, or disallows backups.

It's a poorly constructed sentence.

 

[NumberNine]

I'd take a modded New 3DS over a Switch or Switch 2.
Much better consumer experience.

 

[yRaz]

Let's not forget they are deleting 20 year save files people have been transferring from system to system and not caring.

Priorities, much?

 

[Megalomaniac]

I have one of those microSD Express cards that has ALL of the original NES, Genesis,Turbo Graphyx 16, Neo Geo, and SNES games on it.

 

[umeng2002]

no it doesn't.

You say that the DMCA prevents backups. Then in the next clause you say that Nintendo has no legal right to prevent people from making backups.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Yes it does. Protecting against something means preventing it or acting contrary to it. Protecting against making backups means it prevents, makes difficult, or disallows backups.

It's a poorly constructed sentence.

Sorry, I forgot that a grammar error completely negates the intent of a post! Whoopsies, darned Reddit rules!

Except this is Techspot, and we're not as dumb as Redditors. The intent is pretty clear: the DMCA provides a protected exemption for using carts like this to make backups of software you have purchased for your own personal use. Hope that cleared it up for you.

You say that the DMCA prevents backups. Then in the next clause you say that Nintendo has no legal right to prevent people from making backups.

I did not present either of those arguments, you should read the comments again. All I said was

It is morally and ethically correct to pirate Nintendo’s stuff. Stop buying their garbage.

Which is true, and

no it doesn't.

because I can take context clues to understand a point being made instead of making perfectly literal arguments like an AI.

 

[bviktor]

Sorry, I forgot that a grammar error completely negates the intent of a post! Whoopsies, darned Reddit rules!

Except this is Techspot, and we're not as dumb as Redditors. The intent is pretty clear: the DMCA provides a protected exemption for using carts like this to make backups of software you have purchased for your own personal use. Hope that cleared it up for you.

I did not present either of those arguments, you should read the comments again. All I said was

Which is true, and

because I can take context clues to understand a point being made instead of making perfectly literal arguments like an AI.

Oh how evil of us trying to make sense of the mumbo jumbo you guys spit out, we should know that when you say "A" that means "NOT A", because context, and dumb redditors. Or something.

It's not mandatory to participate in intelligible conversation, but then why add comments in the first place?