ESA Filing Targets China-Based Manufacturer
The Entertainment Software Association (GamesIndustry.biz) has formally recommended that China-based retro console manufacturer Anbernic be added to the United States government’s Notorious Market List. Published annually by the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the list identifies physical and online marketplaces that allegedly engage in or facilitate substantial trademark counterfeiting and copyright piracy. According to the regulatory filing, the trade body contends that Anbernic normalizes hardware-based copyright infringement by distributing illicit gaming catalogues inside polished consumer electronics.
Anbernic produces portable handheld devices designed to emulate classic gaming systems from platform holders including Nintendo, Sega, and PlayStation. Last year, the hardware maker briefly suspended shipments to the United States following the implementation of new trade tariffs. However, the latest escalation centers entirely on intellectual property enforcement rather than trade duties, as the GamesIndustry.biz report details the extensive integration of unauthorized games sold directly with the hardware.
The Mechanics of Preloaded Hardware Piracy
In its regulatory submission, the GamesIndustry.biz coverage highlights that Anbernic devices are frequently shipped or offered with removable memory cards packed with hundreds or thousands of unauthorized copies of protected video games. These preloaded assets provide immediate playability without a lawful purchase or software license, reflecting the unauthorized circumvention of technological protection measures implemented by developers.
The trade association characterizes these preloaded handheld units as the functional equivalent of superfakes. Because a single device replaces lawful purchases across multiple console generations and publishers, it diverts consumer spending away from authorized games, digital subscriptions, remasters, and licensed retro hardware. Sellers reportedly use the unauthorized libraries as primary marketing hooks, duplicating identical catalogues at negligible marginal cost across large production runs distributed through mainstream social media, branded web portals, and public online marketplaces.
Broader Market Risks and Proposed Enforcement Steps
Beyond copyright infringement, the submission warns that these illicit plug-and-play devices create consumer security vulnerabilities, privacy risks, and financial hazards while bypassing mandatory player and child-safety protections. The presence of unauthorized hardware distorts fair market competition and shifts financial monitoring, investigative burdens, and legal remediation costs directly onto legal rights holders and mainstream platforms.
To curb these practices, the GamesIndustry.biz report outlines seven core recommendations submitted to the USTR. These proposals include treating preloaded unauthorized game libraries as definitive evidence of commercial-scale piracy, requiring sellers to substantiate authorization for bundled software, inspecting bundled and separate storage media, suspending repeat violators and linked storefronts entirely rather than targeting single listings, improving customs interdiction, preserving transaction records, and coordinating multilateral actions against manufacturers, exporters, and fulfillment providers.
Expanded Industry Scope and Regulatory Context
The regulatory filing extends beyond dedicated hardware manufacturers, encompassing a wider array of digital copyright concerns across the modern gaming landscape. In its comprehensive submission to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the Entertainment Software Association urged regulators to target cracked game sources, repackers, linking sites, torrent and piracy coordination markets, unauthorized digital goods marketplaces, and commercial cheat markets. Each of these sectors, according to the trade organization, contributes to an ecosystem that undermines authorized revenues and distributes protected intellectual property without creator consent or license.
Within the unauthorized digital goods marketplace category, the filing explicitly points to commercial platforms such as G2A. The trade group notes that while G2A previously represented that it did not permit sales of in-game accounts or items, the marketplace continues to facilitate the trading of accounts and digital items at a massive commercial scale. By incorporating these diverse digital entities alongside hardware manufacturers like Anbernic, the trade body aims to give regulators a comprehensive view of how contemporary piracy scales across both physical devices and digital distribution networks.
Detailed Enforcement Framework and Accountability
The seven-step enforcement framework proposed by the Entertainment Software Association is designed to close existing regulatory loopholes exploited by commercial-scale pirates. By pressing authorities to treat preloaded unauthorized game libraries as definitive proof of commercial infringement, rights holders hope to eliminate legal ambiguities that have historically slowed down administrative and judicial interventions. Furthermore, the emphasis on inspecting both bundled and separately shipped storage media addresses a common evasion tactic where memory cards containing illicit game libraries are distributed alongside blank or nominally clean hardware.
Another critical pillar of the proposed framework involves compelling online marketplaces and payment processors to preserve comprehensive seller, payment, shipment, and advertising records. Rights holders argue that without mandatory record preservation, investigating complex, cross-border distribution networks remains exceptionally difficult. By coordinating multi-agency and international actions against manufacturers, exporters, importers, fulfillment providers, and online platforms that knowingly facilitate these transactions, the trade association seeks to establish a synchronized global deterrent against hardware and software piracy.