Briefly mentioned within an article posted by TorrentFreak, which talks about “notorious markets” nominated by rightsholders as it concerns piracy sites, torrent sites, and hosting companies, is a recommendation by the ESA to classify the retro emulation device maker Anbernic as a ‘superfake’.
What Do We Know?
The article talks about an annual list of “notorious markets”, which are sites, users, and companies nominated by rightsholders seen as the current biggest threats to the gaming industry. This list is requested by the United States Trade Representative (UTSR) on an annual basis.
One such representative of these rightsholders, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), has provided several recent recommendations for this list. Among the usual suspects – including Denuvo cracker ‘voices38’, along with various torrent sites, cheat sellers, and illicit game-trading sites – is a mention of the retro emulation handheld maker Anbernic.
According to the recommendations put forth by the ESA, they are requesting the UTSR to classify Anbernic as a ‘superfake’, which is a high-quality counterfeit product that is nearly indistinguishable from the authentic product it is attempting to copy. The ESA has nominated Anbernic because the company continues to sell handheld consoles with pre-loaded microSD cards full of pirated ROMs, which the ESA sees as the video game equivalent of a superfake.
What Does this Mean for Anbernic?
The recommendation that the ESA has made concerning Anbernic is simply that; a recommendation. The UTSR could choose to not recognize Anbernic as a superfake and, even if they do, it would likely only be in regards to the pre-loaded ROMs on the microSD cards. This is apparently not the first time the ESA has flagged Anbernic for this kind of behavior, but this is the first year that a special focus has been placed on ‘superfakes’, and it does seem to be getting a little more attention this time around.
Should the UTSR decide to classify Anbernic as a ‘superfake’ and deem them detrimental to the United States gaming industry, it could result in the company being unable to sell their devices to the United States. This would likely not only affect international distribution channels within the Chinese markets, but likely distribution sites and warehouses within the United States and on Amazon and eBay.
It is unclear if this would result in Anbernic being unable to sell their devices entirely, or if it would just result in them being unable to sell devices with microSD cards pre-loaded with games. However, should the UTSR accept the ESA’s recommendation, and with the highly anticipated Anbernic RG DDS on the horizon, this could potentially make things more complicated for retro handheld consumers and enthusiasts in the United States.
What’s Next?
Ultimately, Anbernic should really consider discontinuing the sale of their devices with pre-loaded pirated games. Yes, this is commonly seen by some as a grey area. Yes, we’re talking about this on a website that promotes the purchase and use of handheld devices for the sake of retro game emulation.
However, selling devices that come with pre-loaded ROMs is much less grey, and should the US classify Anbernic as a ‘superfake’, it could lead to the halt of some or all sales of the companies devices to and within the United States.
