The Entertainment Software Association, the big US trade body for the games industry, has asked the US Trade Representative to treat Anbernic handhelds sold with preloaded ROM cards as superfakes in its 2026 Notorious Markets review, which puts the Anbernic ESA row on a much bigger stage than the usual angry forum thread.
If you’ve ever browsed an Anbernic listing and spotted “64GB card with 15,000 games included!”, you already know exactly what’s being targeted here, so is this the beginning of the end for cheap emulation handhelds, or just a slap on the wrist that was a long time coming? Let me explain.
What Did the ESA Actually Ask For?
Every year the USTR asks rights holders to nominate “notorious markets”, basically the worst offenders for piracy and counterfeiting, and this year’s review has a special focus on superfakes, meaning high-quality counterfeits that are almost impossible to tell apart from the real thing. According to TorrentFreak’s breakdown of the filing, the ESA has argued that handhelds shipped with cards full of unlicensed games are the video game version of that, and it’s named Anbernic.com, the brand’s official store, as its example.
The ESA says these devices are routinely sold with memory cards packing hundreds or even thousands of unauthorised games, and that they’re also shifted through Amazon and eBay, which is where most people outside the hardcore retro crowd would actually buy one.
Anbernic isn’t alone on the list, mind you, because it’s sharing space with the Denuvo cracker voices38, repack sites like FitGirl and DODI, the Russian torrent site RuTracker, account marketplaces like G2A, and even the Cronus Zen cheat device, which is quite the line-up of party guests!
Quick NoteThis is a recommendation, not a ruling. The USTR decides which nominations make the final Notorious Markets list, and the last edition only landed in March, so don’t expect anything to change overnight.
Could This Actually Stop Anbernic Sales in the US?
Nobody knows yet, and that’s the honest answer. Retro Handhelds points out that a listing would most likely target the preloaded cards rather than the hardware itself, but it could still cause headaches for distribution out of China, US warehouses, and those Amazon and eBay storefronts.
The worst case is customs and marketplaces getting twitchy about anything with an Anbernic logo on it, which would be a nightmare for people who just want a nice RG35XX to play their own backups on. The best case is that Anbernic quietly stops bundling the dodgy cards, and everything carries on as normal… just with one less thing in the box!
Does Anbernic Only Have Itself to Blame?
I’ll be upfront with you all, yes, mostly. Emulation itself is legal, and the scene has spent years arguing that these devices are for playing games you own, which is a lot harder to argue when the manufacturer is chucking thousands of ROMs in the box as a selling point.
Now look, the winky “some people, definitely not me” approach to sourcing ROMs is part of retro gaming culture, and we’re not going to pretend otherwise, but there’s a big difference between what one person does with their own handheld and a company selling pirated libraries at scale. That second one was always going to attract the lawyers eventually, wasn’t it?
Worth NotingMost Anbernic models can be bought without a games card, or with a blank one, depending on the seller. If you’re shopping right now, picking a no-card listing is the cleanest way to go anyway, and you’ll want a better quality microSD than the bundled ones regardless.
Should You Hold Off on Buying an Anbernic?
Not really, at least not yet. Nothing has been decided, existing devices aren’t going to stop working, and the hardware is as good value as ever, especially with new models like the Anbernic RG DDS, aka a 3DS that forgot how to do 3D, on the way.
If you’re in the US and planning a big purchase, it’s worth keeping an eye on how the USTR responds and whether Anbernic changes its bundles in the meantime. For everyone else, this is a good reminder that the retro handheld boom is now big enough for the industry’s heavy hitters to notice, and that’s going to shape how these devices are sold from here on. [ADD PERSONAL NOTE]
FAQ
Why is the ESA targeting Anbernic?
The ESA says Anbernic handhelds are routinely sold with memory cards preloaded with unauthorised games, which it treats as the gaming equivalent of a superfake.
Will the Anbernic ESA nomination get the handhelds banned in the US?
Not automatically. The USTR decides what goes on its Notorious Markets list, and even a listing would likely focus on preloaded ROM cards rather than the hardware.
Is it legal to own an Anbernic handheld?
Yes. Emulation hardware is legal; the problem is distributing copyrighted games without permission, which is exactly what the preloaded cards do.
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