Nintendo adds yet another lawsuit to their rich portfolio with the latest enemy being the creators of a very popular Nintendo Switch emulator, Yuzu.
Nintendo of America files a public lawsuit against developers on the 26th of February. This lawsuit signifies yet another attempt in a fight the gaming giant continues with anyone messing with their intellectual property.
We hear about Nintendo taking legal action against people messing with their property from time to time, but this is a biggie. The lawsuit is official and public and is being discussed amongst many Nintendo fans and emulators users.
Nintendo wants Yuzu to shut down immediately because according to their lawyers developers working on Yuzu came to possession of illegal software of a Nintendo Switch. If this is the case, they have the right to do so of course.
Emulation is always a pretty gray area. Technically it’s not illegal to possess emulators and use them to play games if you own them. Yet, most people use them to play illegal copies of games, which naturally makes game companies a bit angry.
The thing with Nintendo is, a lot of their titles are only available in their original form. And I don’t see many people willing to pay a pretty penny to buy a Game Boy or an NES with some games they really want to play and that’s the only way to do it.
Even tho Nintendo has offered many of their classic older games through Nintendo Switch Online subscription, there are still a lot of games not available easily.
But this is a different case. Nintendo Switch is the latest Nintendo console and you have easy and immediate access to any game on the system. According to Nintendo, the creators of the popular emulator largely contributed to the growth of piracy of Nintendo Switch games. Especially the latest game in The Legend of Zelda series, Tears of the Kingdom.
The game leaked online a month before its release and was supposedly downloaded a million times before it even hit store shelves. That’s the biggest issue the company has with Yuzu creators. Anybody could download the game and play it with their emulator.
In this particular case, I’m on Nintendo’s side. They tend to blow stuff like this out of proportion, but this time, a serious money loss is on the table, and, like it or not, Nintendo is a business and the business is supposed to make money.
Now I wonder how this uneven fight will unfold. I presume Yuzu won’t survive this test and the emulator will be shut down, but we’ll see.
