Nintendo Switch Emulator Yuzu Gives Up Lawsuit, Pays $2.4 Million to Nintendo

Nintendo Switch emulator pioneer Yuzu has reportedly settled the emulation lawsuit from Nintendo, agreeing to pay $2.4 million as well as giving up everything related to Nintendo Switch emulation.

Tropic Haze consented to pay the damages since the filing states it reasonably corresponds to the range of damages, legal fees, and total costs that the parties may have reasonably expected at and after the lawsuit's trial. According to the Verge, In addition to pledging $2,400,000 to Nintendo, Tropic Haze has stated that Yuzu's main purpose is to get around and play Nintendo Switch titles.

(Photo: YUICHI YAMAZAKI/AFP via Getty Images)
This picture taken on February 5, 2023 shows the logo of game giant Nintendo at a store in Tokyo. - Nintendo were expected to announce their third quarter results later on February 7.

Yuzu creator Tropic Haze consents to a permanent injunction prohibiting it from developing Yuzu, hosting Yuzu, disseminating Yuzu's features or code, running websites and social media accounts that advertise Yuzu, or engaging in any other activity that would violate Nintendo's copyright protections.

Along with deleting all copies of Yuzu and the circumvention tools used to develop or use it, including TegraRcmGUI, Hekate, Atmosphère, Lockpick_RCM, NDDumpTool, nxDumpFuse, and TegraExplorer, the company also agreed to give Nintendo the domain name yuzu-emu.org and to commit to keeping any further proof of Nintendo IP infringement intact.Finally, it agreed to turn over any actual circumvention devices and modified Nintendo hardware to Nintendo.

Nintendo 3DS Emulator Discontinued

Developer Bunnei of Yuzu and Citra has verified in the Yuzu discord that the affected emulators are the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS. Users were notified by Bunnei that Yuzu and Yuzu's support for Citra would end right away.

Nintendo filed a complaint against Yuzu last week, alleging that Yuzu circumvented Nintendo Switch encryption to enable copyright infringement, violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Additionally, Nintendo stated that the main goal of Yuzu's design is to get beyond encryption hurdles so that people can play Nintendo games that are copyrighted.

Emulator Legality

Emulators' legality is a complex subject. Previous court decisions indicate that reverse engineering a console to create an emulator without accessing the source code may be permissible, although these decisions stretch back at least 25 years.

But things get trickier when copyrighted BIOSes and contemporary encryption layers- which are essential for emulators like Yuzu-are considered. Despite such controversy around hardware emulation, some experts in game preservation reportedly argue in favor of simulating outdated defunct platforms.

As per IGN, Yuzu is an open-source C++ Nintendo Switch emulator first released in 2018. Soon after its release, many Nintendo Switch games were emulated with it. For the most part, the Switch has been a prominent platform for piracy throughout most of its life, but it is anticipated to continue as Nintendo's primary platform at least until 2025.