Switch emulator Ryujinx has been taken down after Nintendo contacted its lead developer

by Danny Craig · 10/2/24, 1:00 PM
Switch emulator Ryujinx has been taken down after Nintendo contacted its lead developer
Nintendo

Following Nintendo's removal of the Yuzu Switch emulator earlier this year, another popular emulator, Ryujinx, has been taken offline after the company reportedly contacted its lead developer directly.

The details:

  • According to developer riperiperi on Ryujinx’s official Discord (via @OatmealDome), Nintendo contacted the project's lead developer gdkchan, and the emulator's GitHub repositories and direct download links were removed shortly thereafter. “Yesterday, gdkchan was contacted by Nintendo and offered an agreement to stop working on the project, remove the organisation and all related assets he’s in control of,” riperiperi wrote. “While awaiting confirmation on whether he would take this agreement, the organisation has been removed, so I think it’s safe to say what the outcome is. Rather than leave you with only panic and speculation, I decided to write this short message to give some closure.”

  • Ryujinx was one of the two most popular Switch emulators, with a reputation for excellent accuracy, ease of use, and performance. However, the emulator's development team has a paid Patreon account that currently generates $1,514 USD per month, which could lead to legal complications if Nintendo claims the team is being paid to facilitate piracy.

  • Nintendo sued Tropic Haze, the creator of the Yuzu Switch emulator, earlier this year, claiming that it was used for "facilitating piracy on a colossal scale," with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom being illegally played over one million times before its official release. Tropic Haze later reached an out-of-court settlement with Nintendo, which included the removal of the emulator and the compensation of $2.4 million in damages. Nintendo also went on to order the removal of thousands of Yuzu reuploads on Github.

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