Accessory manufacturer Genki is now in hot water with Nintendo's legal team after the company released mock-ups of the Switch 2 weeks prior to its first official reveal trailer.
Videos of Genki's dummy Switch 2 understandably went viral at the CES 2025 show floor as the mock-ups were allegedly created using the real console as reference. After Nintendo lawyers reportedly visited the company to have a word, Genki backtracked by claiming the dummies were based on online leaks and it did "not own or possess a black market console."
Nintendo has now filed a lawsuit against the accessory maker for "infringement, unfair competition, and false advertising", and accuses Genki of making "contradictory and inconsistent" statements during the messy ordeal.
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"Beginning at least as early as December 2024, [Genki] embarked upon a strategic campaign intended to capitalise on the public interest surrounding Nintendo's next-generation console," the Mario maker said in new US court papers.
"In January 2025, [Genki] began advertising that it gained unauthorised access to Nintendo's upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 console, which had not yet been released or even revealed publicly by Nintendo," it continued. "Following its initial claims of access to a genuine Nintendo Switch 2 console, Defendant's statements were contradictory and inconsistent, with Defendant later stating that it was never in possession of a console. Nevertheless, Defendant has since maintained its representation to consumers that its accessories will be compatible with the Nintendo Switch 2 upon the console's release."
Nintendo says Genki's claims of compatibility "would not be possible" to verify unless it had "unlawfully or illicitly obtained an authentic Nintendo Switch 2" or technical information about the console months before it went public. So Nintendo argues the company either misled consumers to profit from the Switch 2 hype or it had illegal access to the still upcoming console.
"Genki's claims of compatibility would be impossible to guarantee without unauthorised, illegal early access to the Nintendo Switch 2. Thus, Genki has misled and is misleading the public as to its ability to guarantee the compatibility of its products with the Nintendo Switch 2."
Here's some upcoming Switch 2 games you can play on Nintendo's new console.
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