The Suyu Nintendo Switch Emulator is about to reach an important milestone, as its build is launching online very soon.
29.02.2024 - 08:01 / thesixthaxis.com / Nintendo
Nintendo is suing the makers of popular Switch emulator Yuzu, leaning on DMCA laws and with the reasoning that the emulator has facilitated a large amount of video game piracy. If they are successful, it could upend decades of legal precedent that has protected game console emulators.
The lawsuit agains Yuzu creator Tropic Haze is all about how the emulator circumvents Nintendo Switch software encryption in order to run the games, Nintendo states, which facilitates software piracy at “a colossal scale”.
Similar to other emulators of more modern systems, Yuzu as a piece of software is unable to play legitimate Switch games, until it’s provided by a “prod.keys” that has been obtained from a real Nintendo Switch. Using that, Yuzu can then decrypt a Switch game on-the-fly. Nintendo argues that, even without including prod.keys in Yuzu, this is still illegal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s wording against the circumvention of such protection if the software is otherwise useless. Tropic Haze will be able to argue that Yuzu supports Homebrew software and learning about Switch development as an educational tool.
However, it does seem that Yuzu has flown a bit too close to the sun in how it presents itself to users. On the emulator’s homepage, it shows screenshots of Nintendo Switch games within a Switch line art drawing; the quickstart guide and FAQ walks users through the process of breaking Switch encryption and on how to “start playing commercial games”; and there’s guidance on how to get copyright protected games up and running both on the site and in the Discord server; while Yuzu is free to download and use, it is financially supported via a Patreon.
Nintendo notes that 1 million copies of Tears of the Kingdom were downloaded prior to the game’s release, and with Yuzu’s Patron support increasing significantly in that time, creating an implicit link between piracy and financial support of the emulator.
Really the legal case will hinge on whether or not Tropic Haze providing detailed information and tools to access your own Switch encryption keys is enough to infringe upon the DMCA.
Of course, there’s also the question of if this will ever get to court. Nintendo’s got very deep pockets and has often fired warning shots at fan games and other projects, getting them taken down without heading to court. Tropic Haze likely doesn’t have the financial capacity to take this on, and Yuzu could fold simply under the legal pressure.
We will have to wait and see how this plays out.
Via Stephen Totilo
The Suyu Nintendo Switch Emulator is about to reach an important milestone, as its build is launching online very soon.
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Last week, the popular Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu was taken down after Nintendo filed a lawsuit against developer Tropic Haze, which ended up agreeing to a $2.4 million settlement. Despite this, the developers behind an upcoming replacement emulator, 'Suyu,' seem confident that they can avoid a similar outcome.
Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu has shut down with immediate effect, as creators Tropic Haze have quickly settled the lawsuit with Nintendo for $2.4 million. Tropic Haze will be shutting down themselves, as well as ending support of their Nintendo 3DS emulator Citra as part of an agreement not to develop Nintendo emulators in future.
Directly on the back of Nintendo taking legal action against the Nintendo Switch emulation software Yuzu, alternatives have already started appearing online.
The development of the Yuzu was permanently halted, but the popular Nintendo Switch emulator will continue to live on thanks to multiple projects that were recently launched.
Just a week after news broke that Nintendo was suing Tropic Haze, the developer of Switch emulator Yuzu, it appears the two have settled. As part of the settlement, Tropic Haze will pay Nintendo $2.4 million in damages and immediately cease operations of both Yuzu, the Switch emulator, and Citra, the 3DS emulator.
Late last month Nintendo officially filed suit against the makers of Yuzu, one of the most popular Switch emulators. While most expected the case to drag on in typical legal fashion, it turns out it’s already been settled, and not in Yuzu’s favor.
The creators of Yuzu, a popular open-source Switch emulator, have agreed to settle a lawsuit that will lead to a payout of $2.4 million to Nintendo, pending approval. Further, the settlement prohibited Yuzu and all related parties from distributing and developing its Switch emulator in its current form, and that Yuzu's websites and code repositories would be pulled.
Makers of Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu owe Nintendo $2.4 million after reaching a settlement with the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom developer, following a lawsuit over the open-source emulator just last week. Both Nintendo and Tropic Haze, the company behind Yuzu, filed for a final judgment and permanent injunction on Monday, according to court documents, after Nintendo accused the Yuzu makers of copyright infringement, circumvention of Nintendo’s Switch protections, and selling those circumvention technologies as Yuzu, among other things.
The creator of a popular Nintendo Switch emulator has settled a Nintendo lawsuit and agreed to pay $2.4 million in damages.
Tropical Haze, the developer of open-source Switch emulator Yuzu, has agreed to pay $2.4m in damages to Nintendo and cease all operations in response to the Mario maker's recent lawsuit.