3 best Nintendo Switch emulators for Windows

1. Suyu

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Suyu is a Nintendo Switch emulator that supports high-resolution rendering, save states (save progress at any point and continue from where you left off), controllers, local multiplayer, and other mod version. Suyu emulator for Nintendo Switch is also available for Linux, macOS and Android.

Suyu is a replacement for the popular open-source Nintendo Switch emulator called Yuzu, which was famously shut down in March 2024 to avoid a legal battle with Nintendo. Suyu is a software fork of the Yuzu codebase on GitHub, and it aims to avoid the legal pitfalls that have led to Nintendo being accused of supporting large-scale piracy of Switch games.

Therefore, Suyu requires you to use cryptographic keys (Prod Keys and Title Keys) from an actual Nintendo Switch using an emulator. Furthermore, Suyu takes a strong anti-piracy stance, does not monetize, and does not provide instructions on how to play copyrighted games.

1. (Free of charge)

2. Ryujinx

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Ryujinx is a Nintendo Switch emulator compatible with Windows, Linux and macOS. To date, the developers and community have tested more than 4,000 games on the emulator, with about 3,400 running smoothly. You can find a list of playable games on Ryujinx's GitHub page.

For users who don't want a very technical setup, Ryujinx is the ideal choice. The interface is intuitive and simple, and can run the game at 60FPS. What's more, the experience is console-like, even if you're playing it on your desktop.

Rtujinx is completely free to download. This Nintendo Switch emulator is written in C# and is open source. That means if you're familiar with programming languages ​​and things like console architecture and emulation techniques, you can contribute to the open source development of emulators.

1. (Free of charge)

3. Torzu

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Like Suyu, Torzu is another branch of the Yuzu emulator. It used to have its own GitHub repository, but that was also taken down by Nintendo under the DMCA.

To ensure that the open source project is more difficult to remove at this time, the developers have hosted the main repository on the Tor network. This hides important information that Nintendo needs to track the physical location of servers and issue DMCA takedown notices. You'll need the Tor browser to access the main repository, but fortunately the developers also have an alternative repository on Codeberg.

The biggest downside, especially if you're not tech-savvy, is that there aren't any versions of Torzu available. You must download or copy the code and build the project manually using tools like Visual Studio, CMake, Git, and Vulkan SDK. But once you do, you'll have access to Yuzu's best features.

At the time of writing, Torzu is under active development. The repository also has code to build Torzu emulators for Android and Linux. And since it's open source, you can contribute to its development (it's written in C++).

With emulation, you can play your favorite Nintendo Switch titles while bypassing the hardware limitations of the hybrid console. You can even play the game with cheats and mods applied to enhance your experience.

Using a Nintendo Switch emulator is fine if you can avoid violating copyright laws. And if you're a fan of old Nintendo consoles, you can try out some of the best Nintendo DS emulators.

Micah Soto

Update 02 August 2024