Curtis Joe / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Nintendo has shut down Ryujinx, one of the most popular Nintendo Switch emulators.
- With Nintendo shutting down Yuzu earlier this year, there are no major emulators left.
- However, like a hydra, Yuzu and Ryujinx ports will pop up and survive.
The Nintendo Switch 2 — or whatever it might be called — is probably going to launch in just a few months. A lot of people reading this are likely excited to buy one because they loved the original so much. However, a small subset of readers aren’t planning on buying one because they don’t see a need: they are already emulating the Nintendo Switch and downloading all games for free, and know they will be able to do the same for the sequel soon after it hits store shelves.
Nintendo, obviously very aware of this subset of people, has been trying to dampen the popularity of Switch emulation. Earlier this year, it shut down Yuzu, the most popular Switch emulator available at the time. This left Ryujinx — previously the second most popular emulator — as the primary alternative. Today, though, Nintendo has shut down Ryujinx, leaving Switch emulation fans fewer and fewer options.
In a forum post at GBATemp, Ryujinx developer “rip in peri peri” disclosed that the team had been approached by Nintendo with an “agreement” that would see the team cease all work on the project. Lead developer “gdkchan” allegedly said they were mulling over the agreement and would deliver a response later. However, before that announcement, the organization started being dismantled, pushing “rip in peri peri” to conclude that “gdkchan” took Nintendo’s offer.
Although no terms are disclosed in the announcement, it’s very likely Nintendo threatened the team with legal action, possibly related to the recent deluge of content surrounding the successful emulation of the new game The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. Rather than try to fight Nintendo in court over the legality of Ryujinx, the team took the loss.
With Ryujinx gone, Switch emulation is a Wild West again
Although Yuzu clones, ports, and mods are still available online, Yuzu and Ryujinx were the only major Switch emulation projects. The two teams had multiple developers from around the world and pushed daily updates to make the emulators better. With both teams disbanded, Switch emulation has now become a Wild West again.
Savvy users will still be able to find the final releases of both emulators and they should both work for emulating the overwhelming majority of Switch titles. Even newer games that haven’t launched yet will likely be fully playable, albeit with a glitch here and there. But as time goes on, the emulators will be less and less compatible with new titles, which will force both pirates and legitimate users to head to the internet’s underbelly to find replacements — or some malware.
For the record, multiple court cases have upheld the concept that console emulators are legal but only when used to play games a person legitimately owns. Despite the fact that most people with Ryujinx installed on one of their systems are playing pirated games, a significant minority are not. They just want to be able to play something like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild at 4K/120FPS instead of the 1080p/30FPS to which the Switch hardware locks them. These folks are likely pretty frustrated by this whole situation.
Regardless, if you’re looking to emulate Switch games, things are going to be much trickier starting today.
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