Nintendo sues the creator of the Switch emulator Yuzu

Nintendo is a company that enjoys trademark litigation. In an unexpected move, a Japan-based console manufacturer and game developer has sued the creators of the popular Yuzu emulator for Nintendo Switch.

For those who don't know, Yuzu is an open source emulator that can run Nintendo Switch games on platforms like PC. Naturally, Nintendo didn't like that.

On Monday, Nintendo filed a 41-page lawsuit against Tropic Haze, Yuzu's company, in Rhode Island court. Stephen Totilo of Game File was the first to notice the lawsuit and shared the information on his X (formerly Twitter) account. According to the lawsuit, Nintendo argues that Yuzu broke the console's security. This leads to illegal copying of games played on PCs and Android devices, and facilitates piracy.

Nintendo sues the creator of the Switch emulator Yuzu Picture 1 Nintendo sues the creator of the Switch emulator Yuzu Picture 1

Regarding the damages incurred, Nintendo explicitly refers to the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The company claims that a week before the game's launch, a copy of the game files was leaked online. Many people downloaded the emulator to play the leaked version during this time.

Furthermore, Nintendo claims Yuzu saw significant growth on its Patreon levels between May 1 and May 15, 2023. This resulted in creators earning win at least $50,000 on premium Yuzu downloads. Nintendo cited this evidence to claim that Yuzu promotes copyright infringement and has requested to stop this emulator. Additionally, the company is also demanding damages from the emulator.

While Nintendo has worked hard to shut down ROM sites and fan projects in the past, this particular case is strange. Emulation is not an illegal activity. Only if you run pirated copies of games on emulators is it considered illegal.

One of the most prominent cases of a publisher losing a case in the emulator war dates back to 1999. Sony sued Connectix Virtual Game Station, a PlayStation 1 emulator. However, the court found in favor of the group emulation, which is partly why emulation is considered legal today.

However, the lawsuit between Connectix and Sony occurred in 1999 and views have changed since then. Only time will tell who the court will support in this case.