Dutch Court Rules Selling MIG Switch Is Unlawful: What the Ruling Says and Why It Matters

According to September 11, 2026 reports on a Nintendo press release, the District Court of The Hague in the Netherlands ruled that selling "MIG Switch" cards and the "MIG Switch Dumper" is unlawful. The court ordered the defendant to stop selling them immediately, and the order also covers other products built to get around Nintendo's technical protection measures. A MIG Switch is a cartridge that lets a Switch load game backups (a flash cart); the Dumper is the companion cartridge reader. The ruling targets a single seller. Headlines calling it an EU-wide ban overstate it.

What the court decided

• Defendant: per Dexerto, a dropshipper selling through three websites, with stock shipped directly from Asia.
• Order: stop selling MIG Switch cards and Dumpers immediately, and don't sell other products that bypass the Switch's protections.
• Reasoning: the court found that the devices' main function is to circumvent technical protection measures, and that advertising them for backing up your own games doesn't make selling them lawful. Dexerto notes the judges relied on a European precedent that treats a device's only real purpose as enough reason to ban it.
• Precedent: Nintendo's press release points out that the same court banned "R4 cards" for the DS in 2010 on the same logic.

Nintendo's statement: "Nintendo initiates these actions not only on its own behalf, but also on behalf of the many video game developers globally that depend on legitimate sales of Nintendo video games."

How it fits Nintendo's recent moves

Two tracks stand out. In the US, Nintendo goes after sellers with DMCA notices and lawsuits. On the console side, it bans the hardware of people using these carts from going online. The Dutch ruling adds Europe to the picture.

What it has to do with emulators

This case was about selling hardware and didn't involve any emulator project. The legal reasoning overlaps, though: Nintendo's DMCA notices against emulators also rest on circumvention of technical protection measures. The court's refusal to accept "backing up your own games" as a reason to sell flash carts is a reminder that, in many legal systems, using only your own games doesn't automatically make circumvention legal.

What this means for players

• The ruling directly binds that one Dutch seller. How other countries and other sellers are treated depends on local law; there is no single EU ban.
• Using these carts on a Switch 2 has already led to console bans. The ban applies to the console itself, cutting off the eShop and updates.
• If you want to play games you bought on a PC or phone, start with are Switch emulators legal? and keys and firmware explained, then browse the emulator list.