Nintendo: Switch emulator Ryujinx disappears from the internet

The switch emulator Ryujinx can no longer be downloaded: The download website remains empty, the Github page has been deleted. After Yuzu, it is the second major emulator for Nintendo's Switch to have the plug pulled on it this year.

While a Nintendo lawsuit led to the shutdown of the Yuzu emulator, the situation with Ryujinx is more opaque. Nintendo has not filed a lawsuit against Ryujinx. Instead, the Japanese company has apparently contacted the lead developer directly. At least that's what another Ryujinx developer named "rip in peri peri" claims in a Discord post.

According to this, Nintendo has made an agreement with lead developer Gdkchan. According to the agreement, developer Gdkchan should stop working on Ryujinx and delete all Ryujinx assets that he controlled – This has apparently already happened. It is not known what Nintendo offered or threatened to offer Gdkchan in return.

Gdkchan has not yet commented publicly on the case. Nintendo has also so far refused to answer questions from US media such as The Verge.

Nintendo's fight against emulators

In March, Nintendo succeeded in taking the Switch emulator Yuzu out of circulation. Following a copyright lawsuit by Nintendo's US subsidiary, developer Tropical Haze removed the Switch emulator Yuzu and the 3DS emulator Citra from the internet. Both parties agreed to this in an out-of-court settlement. The emulator developer also had to pay Nintendo damages in the amount of 2.4 million US dollars.

Nintendo had accused Yuzu of enabling the circumvention of security mechanisms for Switch games with its emulator. Nintendo argued that the developer was therefore also liable for copyright infringements. In 2023, the company also took action against providers of so-called dumping tools that can extract encrypted keys from purchased Switch games and thus make them usable on other devices.

The team behind the Skyline emulator, among others, then decided to discontinue development. "The risks associated with a potential lawsuit are too great for us", wrote the developers. In fact, it is rare for lawsuits between Nintendo and developers of emulator tools to result in court decisions. The parties often settle out of court. Independent developers rarely have the money to see court cases through to the end.

(dahe)