'They can never kill emulation': Players vexed as Nintendo continues its siege on Switch emulation, handing DMCAs to various emulators on GitHub

Zelda crying in Breath of the Wild — (Image credit: Nintendo)

Nintendo Switch emulation has had a rough go of it. The first big Switch emulator, Yuzu, got targeted by a lawsuit in 2024 that its creators settled out of for $2.4 million, which PC Gamer senior editor Wes Fenlon called "an enormous blow to console emulation." Similarly, Ryujinx was subsequently discontinued after its creators were given an offer they could not refuse. Switch emulation scattered into all sorts of different forks, and now they're all feeling a familiar gaze cast their direction.

A thread from user Devile on Reddit spread the news online Thursday, noting that all manner of Switch emulators including Yuzu forks like Eden and Citron received DMCA takedown notices on GitHub. Replies quickly piled in with evidence from various emulation discords and frustration with the whole situation.

Commenter rappidkill stated on the thread, "If they kill one, 10 more will pop up. Kill 10, 100 more will pop up. They can never kill emulation." Redditor DWRedd commented, "It’s never a bad time to back up your favourite emulators."

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Justin first became enamored with PC gaming when World of Warcraft and Neverwinter Nights 2 rewired his brain as a wide-eyed kid. As time has passed, he's amassed a hefty backlog of retro shooters, CRPGs, and janky '90s esoterica. Whether he's extolling the virtues of Shenmue or troubleshooting some fiddly old MMO, it's hard to get his mind off games with more ambition than scruples. When he's not at his keyboard, he's probably birdwatching or daydreaming about a glorious comeback for real-time with pause combat. Any day now...

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