Given the amount of information that’s floating around, seemingly the entire internet downloaded Pokémon Sun and Moon before release. Well, it seems that the ban hammer is finally coming down on those pirates.


Earlier this month, links containing files for Pokémon Sun and Moon started circulating the web. Not only did these files allow full access to the games, players could even go online and play with/against others, just like everyone else.

Fast-forward to right now, and reports are coming in from sources like GBA Temp and 4Chan, where people are claiming that they are getting banned on the 3DS. Reportedly, these bans won’t allow players to go online on Pokémon Sun and Moon, or even access the general eshop to purchase or redownload already-owned titles. It’s the sort of thing that, for some people, will necessitate buying another 3DS:


This turn of events causing some commotion among pirates:






Others are taking the bans shockingly well:


The ongoing assumption among pirates is that the bans are mostly happening to people who downloaded Sun and Moon and then went online with them, which is pretty knuckle-headed:




Those affected are trying to figure out how to circumvent the bans, and some of the proposed methods sound wild. Some players are suggesting, for example, to acquire a legit 3DS by purchasing one, extracting its information and injecting it into the banned 3DS, and then returning the new 3DS to retailers—potentially fucking over whoever goes on to buy that system in the future.




Some players are reportedly calling Nintendo’s support lines for piracy bans, to no avail. Others are debating whether or not Nintendo is going too far with entire 3DS limitations, rather than just Sun and Moon. And while not everyone who pirated the game is getting hit, even the lucky unaffected ones are starting to feel the heat:




Damn. Lesson learned, at least.

We reached out to Nintendo about Sun and Moon bans and will update this story if we hear back.


UPDATE 1:27 PM: Here’s Nintendo:

As a result of a number of Nintendo 3DS users using unauthorized versions of several games, and connecting to the official game servers in violation of our terms of service, these users’ Nintendo 3DS systems that stored the unauthorized game code have been banned from Nintendo’s online network effective immediately.


Thanks for the tip, @Evo2587.