Recently, Tencent partnered with Nintendo to officially release the Switch in China with a region-lock and content that follows the local government regulations. Following this deal, the former has been working hard to get rid of modified consoles from the grey market. The primary reason being that the modified variants allow the user to install pirated games on the consoles, something that is a cause for concern considering that most Switch consoles in China (till now) have been sold through the same channels.
Earlier, in December, Tencent won two court cases in Guangdong and Jiangsu province prompting the local business to halt the production and sale of hardware modified Switch consoles that allow access to pirated games. It’s the first such action taken by Tencent against a local business.
In a final ruling today, the illegal modifier and seller of Nintendo Switch consoles operating out of China’s Jiangsu province has been fined RMB 300,000 for facilitating piracy. While this is the first such ruling, the fine of 300K RMB is still rather paltry considering the scope of the market.