A gamer that pirated The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has been threatened by ex-Nintendo of America head Reggie Fils-Aimé.
After the upcoming Nintendo game ROM leaked online, a number of PC gamers have decided to play the game on a Nintendo Switch emulator ahead of launch.
Additionally, gamers with modded Nintendo Switch consoles have been able to play the game early before release. Some have even decided to show off their early access on social media.
One fan took a picture of themselves playing The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom leaked ROM on their Switch console. Posting the now-deleted image on Twitter, the pirate was confronted by Nintendo icon Reggie Fils-Aimé.
Quoting Liam Neeson’s character in Taken, the ex-Nintendo head threatened that the company will find him, and they will deal with him.
“I don't know what you want,” Reggie tweeted. “What I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career, skills that make me a nightmare for people like you."
The leaked ROM for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has circulated the internet for a few days now. Following the leak, massive spoilers for the game have been released, showing off most of the game and its story content.
Furthermore, trending topics surrounding the game include “Tears of the Kingdom Ryujinx” and “Tears of the Kingdom Yuzu” with many pirates looking for ways to play the game on Nintendo Switch emulators.
Nintendo has a very strong track record of taking down pirates, but mostly for old games that they do not sell anymore. Recently, the company settled with a Nintendo hacker in court to pay 30% of their income to the company for the rest of their life.
The Japanese gaming giant has taken legal action against countless ROM websites that share files to play retro games that Nintendo refuses to release on modern consoles. What they’ll do against pirates that share unreleased versions of their AAA releases has yet to be decided.
Unfortunately, Nintendo games have a history of leaking before release. Specifically, Pokémon titles have been leaked numerous times, including the series’ most recent entry Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.
This has led Nintendo to be more strict with which outlets and influencers receive early copies of their games, as someone always leaks something.