Yuzu has remained one of the top Nintendo Switch emulators in recent times, able to run old and new games. Sadly, this may be the end of its reign as Nintendo is suing Yuzu.
NEW: Nintendo is suing the creators of popular Switch emulator Yuzu, saying their tech illegally circumvents Nintendo's software encryption and facilitates piracy.
Seeks damages for alleged violations and a shutdown of the emulator. pic.twitter.com/SGZVI6Cs0x— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) February 27, 2024
First caught by Stephen Totilo, Nintendo is suing the popular Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu. According to the 41-page document, Nintendo is suing Yuzu of “facilitating piracy at a colossal scale” because it “allows Nintendo Switch games, which Nintendo authorizes for play solely on Nintendo Switch consoles, to be played on Windows, Linux, or Android systems.” This allows players to play Nintendo Switch games by bypassing “the protections that Nintendo has put into place on its consoles and games.”
Other than being able to play Nintendo Switch games on platforms they are not supposed to be played on, Nintendo also brings up the fact that Yuzu teaches its users how to extract prod.keys from the hardware. For those not familiar, prod.keys are decryption keys that allow the Nintendo Switch to decrypt the games on cartridges, allowing them to be played. By providing links to software to allow the extraction of said keys, Nintendo is making the case that not only is Yuzu promoting piracy, but it is even teaching people how to circumvent safety features put in place to prevent piracy.
The document also brings up the Tears of the Kingdom leak that happened last year. They mentioned that when the game leaked last year, many of the pirate websites “specifically noted the ability to play the game file in Yuzu.” Not only that, but they also brought up the fact that when the game first leaked, Yuzu's Patreon membership doubled. This is because Patreon members had access to “early access” builds, which at the time were capable of running the leaked game.
As for what Nintendo wants to get out of this lawsuit, there appear to be three major things. The first is a permanent injunction of Yuzu. That means that the developers will stop working on the emulator and that the emulator itself will no longer be available for download. They even went as far as to demand that Yuzu hand over any hard drives or electronic storage devices that contain the program so that they can be destroyed.
The second is that they want control of anything related to Yuzu, be it their websites, Discord servers, social media presence, and more. That way, Nintendo will be able to thoroughly control, or even wipe out, the existence of Yuzu from the internet. Finally, and perhaps expectedly, they also want payment for all of the damage that Yuzu has done to the company. This includes the damages done by the Tears of the Kingdom leak last year, which the document claims the Yuzu emulator is “secondarily liable” for.
Various publications have reached out to Yuzu for a comment, but have not responded to any of them. The Yuzu X (formerly Twitter) account has also not been updated since February 11, so no official statement is available as of this article. Should there be updates on the situation, we will be sure to let you know. However, looking at the past projects and people that Nintendo has brought to court, it is safe to assume that, sadly, Yuzu's lifespan will soon be ending.
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