Nintendo continues war against Switch emulators with several new DMCA takedowns

Nintendo has issued several new DMCA takedowns against multiple GitHub pages hosting Switch emulators as it continues to fight against piracy.

The details:

• As spotted by Reddit user Devile, Nintendo has recently submitted a DMCA notice to GitHub requesting the removal of repositories hosting a variety of Switch emulators. “The reported repositories offer, link to, or otherwise provide access to Nintendo Switch emulators, including but not limited to Citron, Eden, Kenji-NX, MeloNX, Pine, Pomelo, Ryubing, Ryujinx, Skyline, Sudachi, Sumi, Suyu, and Yuzu,” the DMCA notice reads.
• The Japanese gaming giant has stated that the emulators in question “illegally circumvent Nintendo’s [technological prevention measures] and run illegal copies of Nintendo Switch games.” It describes that Switch games are encrypted using “proprietary cryptographic keys,” which the emulators allegedly bypass by using unauthorized copies.
• While several of the emulators have since been discontinued, including Citron and MeloNX, the team behind Eden are reportedly planning to push back against the DMCA claim. As reported by Wccftech, founder Camille LaVey has stated that the team aims to keep the emulator alive, arguing that it is designed to be used by those who own their games legally. “Effectively, as founder of Eden, I can say that we want to keep continuing the work in the preservation of videogames, allowing game owners to benefit from this beyond their original hardware,” LaVey said. “Since this is a community-driven project, we always look to provide the best result possible for all – yet, we’re never sure of what the future can bring, so we’re always trying to ask the community to help us in any way they can so Eden can still be alive for years to come.”
• This wave of takedowns comes years after Nintendo took aim at several major Switch emulators in 2024, namely Yuzu and Ryujinx, which have continued to be reuploaded by fans. While Ryujinx’s creators appear to have gotten off lightly, the developer behind Yuzu found themselves at the center of a lawsuit with Nintendo, later agreeing to pay $2.4 million in damages.