Switch 2 Accessory Maker Sued By Nintendo For Major CES Leak

A very strange thing happened earlier this year, prior to Nintendo officially revealing the Switch 2: A small accessory maker, Genki, brought a mockup of the mysterious new console to CES 2025 and flaunted it on the show floor, suggesting to press that the 3D printed replica was accurate and based on early access to an actual Switch 2. The stunt happened just as Switch 2 leaks were hitting a fever pitch and Nintendo is now suing Genki over it.

A lawsuit filed on May 2 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California accuses Genki of trademark infringement, unfair competition, and false advertising, The Game Post reported over the weekend. Nintendo specifically targets video ads for Switch 2 accessories that Genki released in April claiming day-one compatibility with the un-released hardware.

“Either Defendant is not in possession of a genuine console and thus cannot claim compatibility with enough certainty to make its advertising claims in good faith, or Defendant unlawfully or illicitly obtained an authentic Nintendo Switch 2, or proprietary technical information about the Nintendo Switch 2, prior to the console’s release to the public,” the complaint alleges.

Genki has remained undeterred in the face of the lawsuit, and plans to continue showing off its Switch 2 merchandize at upcoming events, like this week’s PAX East convention in Boston. “You may have seen that Nintendo recently filed a lawsuit against us,” it wrote in a statement on May 3. “We’re taking it seriously and working with legal counsel to respond thoughtfully.”

It continued:

What we can say is this: Genki has always been an independent company focused on building innovative gaming accessories for the community we love. We’re proud of the work we’ve done, and we stand by the quality and originality of our products. While we can’t comment in detail, we’re continuing preparations to fulfill orders and showcase our newest products at PAX East this week. We’re grateful for the overwhelming support we’ve received so far. We’ll share more when we can, but for now, we’re staying focused on doing what we do best: building gear for gamers.

It’s unclear if Nintendo still would have targeted Genki for its subsequent Switch 2 marketing campaign if it hadn’t pulled the CES stunt. While the accessory maker was at first happy to talk about its Switch 2 mockup to The Verge, IGN, and others, allowing footage of it to go viral on social media, Genki later changed its tune after Nintendo’s lawyers reportedly made their displeasure known.

A French journalist reported being told that Genki’s CES booth had been visited by the Nintendo reps after the Switch 2 replica blew up online. Genki later told a Japanese publication that the 3D printed mockup was based on internet leaks and not access to an actual Switch 2. “The gaming hardware that Genki is claiming to be Nintendo hardware at CES is unofficial and was not provided to the company by Nintendo,” the company said at the time.

It was a whole mess, but a funny one when it turned out that the Genki replica was basically accurate to the finished model Nintendo revealed just weeks later. Of course, whether that was because it actually did have an early Switch 2, or because of the widespread leaks from others who had access, remains unclear. Either way, Nintendo is clearly not laughing. The company is demanding Genki “destroy” any products or ads that used its trademark, turn over any profits from related sales, and cease this kind of behavior in the future.

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