Nintendo gets 144 Switch modchip firmware projects pulled from GitHub

Nintendo has gone after the software at the heart of the Switch modding scene. GitHub this week published a DMCA takedown request from Nintendo of America that removed an entire network of 144 repositories, including the parent project, all hosting firmware for Switch modchips.

What was taken down

The notice targets firmware for modchips including SX Core, SX Lite, Picofly and HWFLY. Some background on why that firmware matters:

• Early original Switch consoles shipped with a hardware flaw in their recovery mode that Nintendo couldn't patch with a software update, so those units can run custom software without opening the console.
• Later models, including revised original Switches, the Switch Lite and the Switch OLED, fixed that flaw. Running custom software on them means soldering a small chip onto the motherboard.
• The chip needs firmware that performs "voltage glitching," briefly disrupting the console's power at exactly the right moment during boot to get past its security checks. That firmware is what Nintendo targeted.

According to Tom's Hardware, this modchip method doesn't work on the Switch 2.

Nintendo's argument

Nintendo's notice says the firmware lets modchips get around the "technological protection measures" that stop the Switch from running pirated games, by bypassing its boot sequence. Under the DMCA's anti-circumvention rules, distributing tools that are primarily designed to defeat that kind of protection is illegal, and Nintendo argues that's exactly what these repositories do. To support that, it pointed to the US Justice Department's criminal case against Team Xecuter, which made and sold the SX Pro, SX Core and SX Lite modchips.

The other side

Modchips are used for piracy, but that's not all they're used for. They also let people run homebrew apps, emulators and alternative operating systems, mod games, use custom themes and even overclock the console. None of those uses come up in Nintendo's notice.

What it means for Switch owners

If your Switch already has a modchip, it keeps working. What changes is maintenance and new installs: the official source for firmware updates and for flashing or reflashing chips is gone from GitHub, which makes it harder to keep existing chips current and harder for newcomers to mod a console the same way.

Nintendo has always been aggressive about protecting its games, and the fight is getting more complicated. Tom's Hardware points to recent examples of AI tools being used to port and recompile classic Nintendo games, a trend that's far harder to stop with a takedown notice.