Nintendo Looking to Shutdown Popular Switch Emulator Following Piracy Issues

Nintendo of America has filed a lawsuit seeking the shutdown of the Switch emulator Yuzu, and damages for its copyright infringement. The Nintendo Switch was released in 2017 and has cemented itself as one of the biggest consoles in gaming history. With its huge popularity, Switch came into the crosshairs of emulators, which Nintendo has since cracked down on in various ways.

It's no secret that Nintendo is very protective of its intellectual property, which can be seen in the frequent shutting down of projects such as Pokemon, Super Mario fan games, and unofficial ports of Legend of Zelda games. The company also has a history of measures such as blocking videos for using copyrighted soundtracks, and even removing scans of old Nintendo game magazines and guides. But Nintendo is also remembered for direct anti-piracy efforts, such as adding Denuvo support to Switch, bringing the controversial anti-emulation technology to the console. This time, Nintendo is taking legal action against popular software and the damage caused to one of its biggest titles.

Stephen Totilo of Game File revealed on his Twitter that Nintendo of America is suing Yuzu, the popular Switch emulator, seeking damages for piracy violations and the shutdown of the emulator. In the screenshots of the lawsuit shared by Totilo, Nintendo claims that Yuzu helps promote piracy by circumventing its software encryption. To support the lawsuit, Nintendo cites that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was pirated over a million times a week and a half before its release. Tears of the Kingdom was a huge success, but Nintendo says that as well as pirating the game, Yuzu spoiled the game for people.

To further reinforce its claims, Nintendo says that support for Yuzu on Patreon doubled before the release of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The text also adds that the emulator «turns devices into intellectual property infringement tools,» allowing players to purchase Switch games «without paying a dime» to Nintendo