Trade body claims Anbernic "normalises hardware-based piracy by delivering illicit catalogues through a polished consumer product"

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has recommended that retro console maker Anbernic be added to the US government's Notorious Market List.

The Notorious Market List is an annual report published by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), which identifies online and physical markets "that reportedly engage in or facilitate substantial trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy."

Anbernic, based in China, manufactures handheld devices that emulate retro gaming systems from platform holders including Nintendo, PlayStation, and Sega. Last year, Anbernic suspended shipments to the US following the implementation of tariffs.

According to the filing (via VGC), the ESA claims that Anbernic "normalises hardware-based piracy by delivering illicit catalogues through a polished consumer product [...] By marketing the devices through ordinary retail channels, the operation also shifts monitoring, investigation, notice, and remediation costs to publishers and marketplaces."

The trade body stated that Anbernic devices are "routinely offered or shipped with removable memory cards preloaded with hundreds or thousands of unauthorised copies of copyright-protected video games published by ESA members. Those copies enable immediate play without a lawful purchase or license and reflect the unlawful circumvention of technological protection measures used to control access to or copying of member games."

In general, the ESA highlighted "illicit plug-and-play consoles and handheld devices" as being "the functional equivalent of superfakes."

"A single device can substitute for lawful purchases across multiple video game publishers and console generations, divert sales from authorised games, compilations, subscriptions, remasters, and licensed retro hardware"

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