Nintendo has sent multiple DMCA takedown requests to various Switch emulator tools following the recent ROM leak of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

The news comes courtesy of Simon Aarons, who according to their bio does “programming, reverse engineering, security research, [and] media preservation”. According to them, Nintendo is issuing “multiple DMCA takedown requests to GitHub” concerning various emulator tools. They specifically mentioned Lockpick, a tool that players can use to dump keys from a physical Nintendo Switch onto a PC.

For those not familiar with how Switch emulators work, let's go through it real quick. It is not enough to own a ROM from a physical Switch cartridge to play the game on an emulator. The player also needs keys, which Switches use to decode and run the ROM. As such, players will need tools such as Lockpick to get the keys they need from their own Switch so that they can play their games on an emulator.

Aarons found out about the DMCA requests after he tried to fork the repository on GitHub. Forking, for those unfamiliar with the term, refers to the act of copying files from a source so that you can edit them or use them. Upon forking said files, he then received an email about the DMCA request.

According to the DMCA request (which was sent to people who forked the original repository or hosted prod.keys in GitHub), Nintendo said that the project and tools could circumvent the technological protection measures that they placed on their console and games.

The reported repository offers and provides access to circumvention software that infringes Nintendo’s intellectual property rights. Specifically, the reported repository provides Lockpick to users. The use of Lockpick with a modified Nintendo Switch console allows users to bypass Nintendo’s Technological Measures for video games; specifically, Lockpick bypasses the Console TPMs to permit unauthorized access to, extraction of, and decryption of all the cryptographic keys, including product keys, contained in the Nintendo Switch. The decrypted keys facilitate copyright infringement by permitting users to play pirated versions of Nintendo’s copyright-protected game software on systems without Nintendo’s Console TPMs or systems on which Nintendo’s Console TPMs have been disabled. Trafficking in circumvention software, such as Lockpick, violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of the United States (specifically, 17 U.S.C. §1201), and infringes copyrights owned by Nintendo.

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PC Gamer's Ted Litchfield has reached out to Nintendo regarding this issue but has yet to receive an answer. Should there be new information regarding the issue, we will be sure to update you.

It's important to note that dumping your own games and emulating them is legal. Players who own a physical copy of a game, as well as the console which they can use to run the game, can legally dump the files onto their computer and emulate the games. It becomes illegal when they distribute the dumped files so that those who don't own the console and/or the game can play the game. If Nintendo wants to continue in its hunt for any and all emulation tools, they will have a hard time as these tools have already spread far and wide throughout the internet.

That's all the information we have so far about Nintendo's DMCA takedown requests to various emulator tools following the Zelda game leak. Check out our gaming news articles for the latest in gaming news.