Emulators have been a major part of the gaming community, as PC gamers can enjoy titles from other platforms without buying the hardware. Yuzu is one of the most-renowned emulators that could emulate Nintendo Switch games on PC. However, the Switch emulator was recently shut down, making other fans wonder if Nintendo will tighten its grip on its competitor Ryujinx.
Nintendo recently sued Tropic Haze LLC, the organization behind Yuzu, for pirating Switch games. In a joint filing, the court sided with the Japanese giants. Yuzu agreed to pay a $2.4 million settlement and shut down their operations. Aside from Yuzu, Tropic Haze also had to close down their Nintendo 3DS emulator, Citra.
It isn’t surprising for the Japanese giants to try to shut down emulators, as fans can access their games illegally. However, it’s interesting that it took Nintendo this long since it is a company known for enforcing copyrights at a moment’s notice. At the same time, Yuzu didn’t show any retaliation to the court’s decision, as they claimed in their announcement on X to have developed this emulator out of their passion for Nintendo and never intended to cause any harm.
— yuzu (@yuzuemu) March 4, 2024
Following the closure of Yuzu and Citra, many other emulators like Pizza Boy for Game Boy Advance/Game Boy Color, Drastic for Nintendo DS, and AetherSX2 have also discontinued their services, according to The Verge. Moreover, the developers for other emulators like Strato and Ryujinx have also stepped away from the limelight. Seeing this aftermath, many are wondering if Ryujinx will also meet the same end.
What can Ryujinx do differently to avoid Yuzu’s fate?
Ryujinx is another renowned emulation software known for emulating Switch games on PC. This Switch emulator hasn’t yet faced any legal issues with the Japanese giants as of yet. However, the software’s users cannot help wondering if Ryujinx will fall the same way as Yuzu.
Many emulator developers started studying Nintendo’s complaints to find loopholes to exploit. Soon after Yuzu’s closure, new emulators like Suyu, Sudachin, and Lime surfaced on the internet. Suyu would require firmware, title.keys, and prod.keys to run a Switch game. The developers took such a step cause Yuzu only required the prod. keys, which made Swith emulation easy. If this method helps emulators escape Nintendo’s hunt, then Ryujinx has nothing to worry about, as they have been doing it since launch.
It is also recommended for developers to keep these emulators free so that Nintendo cannot accuse them of making money through piracy. Hence, uploading such emulators on free platforms like GitHub instead of locking them away behind a paywall can work in the developers’ favor. If Ryujinx manages to follow these steps, they might escape the war Nintendo is waging against emulation.
