Nintendo Emulator Yuzu Halts Operations After Settlement with Nintendo

Yuzu, a popular Nintendo Switch emulator, has announced that it will cease operations following a settlement with Nintendo. The agreement comes after a legal battle involving Tropic Haze, the company behind Yuzu, and Nintendo over alleged copyright infringement related to the game Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

The settlement, amounting to $2.4 million, is pending approval by a judge and includes strict terms for Tropic Haze. These terms require the company to completely cease all operations related to Yuzu, including distribution, marketing, and promotion on websites and social media.

In a statement, Bunnei, one of Yuzu’s creators, emphasized that piracy was never their intention and expressed a desire to end piracy of video games. As a result, all Yuzu code repositories, Patreon accounts, Discord servers, and websites will be taken offline.

Beyond financial penalties, the settlement demands the surrender of the domain name associated with Yuzu, as well as the deletion of circumvention tools used in developing or using Yuzu. It also prohibits the possession of modified Nintendo hardware and physical circumvention devices.

The impact of the settlement extends to Citra, a Nintendo 3DS emulator, highlighting the broader implications for emulator developers. Copies of both Yuzu and Citra have been removed from GitHub, signaling a significant shift in the emulator landscape.

Legal experts note that the settlement raises questions about the legality of emulation and its implications for copyright protection. The case underscores the ongoing debate between emulator developers and gaming companies like Nintendo over intellectual property rights.