Hacker named Bowser must pay Nintendo in piracy case

A hacker called Gary Bowser - who shares his surname with the fictional, turtle-like villain in various Nintendo games - has agreed to pay a fine of $10m (£7.5) over piracy charges.

The agreement is the latest development in a civil case brought against Bowser by Nintendo in the US.

The hacker also pleaded guilty in a federal case against him in late October.

He was already liable to pay $4.5m, and faces up to 10 years in prison.

Bowser, a member of piracy group Team Xecutor, admitted in the federal case that he "knowingly and wilfully participated in a cybercriminal enterprise that hacked leading gaming consoles".

These included the Nintendo Switch and 3DS.

Bowser also accepted that he had made and sold software that allowed people to circumvent protections built into games consoles, so that they could be used to play pirated versions of video games.

The hacker, who is originally from Canada, was arrested in the Dominican Republic and deported to the US in September 2020.

The BBC has contacted Nintendo for comment.