Switch emulator Ryujinx can no longer be downloaded: download website remains empty, Github page has been removed. After Yuzu, this is the second major emulator to be released this year for Nintendo’s Switch.
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While the emulator in Yuzu was shut down due to a Nintendo lawsuit, the situation in Ryujinx is more ambiguous. Nintendo has not filed a lawsuit against Ryujinx. Instead, the Japanese company apparently contacted the lead developer directly. At least one other Ryujinx developer made the same claim in a Discord post, called “Rip in Peri Peri.”
Accordingly, Nintendo’s lead developer GDkan has come up with a compromise. According to the agreement, developer Gdkchan was to stop working on Ryujinx and remove all Ryujinx assets under his control – this has apparently already happened. It is unknown what Nintendo offered or threatened Gadakan in return.
Gdkchan has not yet commented publicly on the matter. Nintendo also does not want to answer questions from American media like The Verge yet,
Nintendo’s fight against imitators
In March, Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu managed to be taken out of circulation. Following a copyright lawsuit from Nintendo’s US subsidiary, developer Tropical Haze has removed Switch emulator Yuzu and 3DS emulator Citra from the internet. Both parties decided to settle out of court. The emulator developer also had to pay $2.4 million in damages to Nintendo.
Nintendo had accused Yuzu of using its emulator to bypass security mechanisms for Switch games. This means the developer is also liable for copyright infringement, Nintendo argued. In 2023, the company also took action against providers of so-called dumping tools, which can extract encrypted keys from purchased Switch games and thus make them usable on other devices.
Later, the team behind the Skyline emulator, along with others, decided to stop development. “The risks associated with a potential lawsuit are too great for us,” the developers write. In fact, it is rare to see court rulings in court cases between Nintendo and developers of emulator tools. The parties often reach a settlement outside of court. Independent developers rarely have the money to see court cases through to the end.
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