The maker behind Yuzu, an emulator for Nintendo Switch games, settled for $2.4 million in a lawsuit with Nintendo. The Japanese game company demanded that Yuzu be taken off the air because it enables piracy “on a huge scale. 3DS emulator Citra is also affected.
The developer acknowledged that Yuzu was designed with the goal of “bypassing and playing” Nintendo Switch games. Tropic Haze has not only agreed to pay $2.4 million to Nintendo, but also agrees to pull the plug on the emulator. The domain yuzu-emu.org will additionally be transferred to Nintendo, as will copies of Yuzu and the tools used to develop and use the emulator. In addition, Nintendo 3DS emulator Citra will also be taken off the air.
Nintendo filed a lawsuit against Tropic Haze last week. The game company said in the suit that the emulator facilitates piracy. For example, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was allegedly available for download on piracy sites a week and a half before its official release, referring to Yuzu. The Zelda game was reportedly illegally downloaded more than a million times before its release. Whether Yuzu completely ceases to exist remains to be seen; copies as well as source code of the emulator are reportedly circulating.
