PlatformsNintendoNintendo SwitchThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the KingdomNintendo takes Switch emulator Yuzu to court in major lawsuit, alleging it fueled 1 million illegal downloads of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom before releaseWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
PlatformsNintendoNintendo SwitchThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the KingdomNintendo takes Switch emulator Yuzu to court in major lawsuit, alleging it fueled 1 million illegal downloads of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom before releaseWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Nintendo)
Prolific Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu is the latest to receive a lawsuit from Nintendo, and it’s a big one. The house of Mario alleges that the program fueled a rush that saw The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom illegally downloaded over 1 million times before the game was properly released, and that’s just one item on Nintendo’s laundry list of alleged damages, which collectively take aim at a major emulator in a way that’s rarely seen, even from such a famously litigious company, drawing many comparisons toSony’s lawsuit against Bleem.
Tears of the Kingdom is just one high-profile example. Nintendo says the game leaked over a week ahead of its official release, and claims it saw more than 1 million illegal downloads during that small window – during which time, Patreon support for Yuzu reportedly “doubled.” You wouldn’t actually download the gamethroughYuzu, which is why this evidence comes across circumstantial at best, but Nintendo’s singled it out as the element enabling illegal copies to be played. Nintendo argues that “thousands of additional paid members of Yuzu’s Patreon signed up so that they could download the early access build and play unlawful copies” of Tears of the Kingdom.
(Image credit: Nintendo)
It blames Yuzu developers for enabling this alleged piracy, and likewise calls out the emulator’s official Discord for having “implemented a ban on discussing Zelda: TotK emulation in Yuzu’s Discord server because so many Yuzu users were trying to seek support emulating it.”
Yuzu project lead Bunnei is named several times in the complaint, which feels especially relevant since Bunnei has publicly dismissed legal issues around emulation in the past. Speaking withPC Gameron the heels of Tears of the Kingdom’s leak and release, in a quote that Nintendo actually skewers in its complaint as evidence that Yuzu devs were aware of things like the Tears of the Kingdom pirate gold rush, Bunnei said:
“We only begin working on emulating new titles once we can legally acquire and dump them ourselves. Since Nintendo Switch releases are region-based, we become legally able to work on them as soon as the title becomes available somewhere in the world. Most issues with TotK in Yuzu (thus far) have been fixed with minor changes that were quick to debug and easy to resolve. I think the fact that the community was able to solve many of these challenges with mods well ahead of us is evidence to that.”
I suspect Bunnei, other Yuzu devs, and indeed all emulation fans will take issue with Nintendo’sunfavorabledefinition of emulators, then, which is right at the top of the document: “A piece of software that allows users to unlawfully play pirated video games that were published only for a specific console on a general-purpose computing device.”
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Amusingly, Nintendo also argues that “law-abiding Nintendo customers” were “forced to avoid social media to prevent seeing spoilers and preserve their surprise and delight for the actual game release” as a result of the Tears of the Kingdom leak.
(Image credit: The Pokemon Company)
The 41-page complaint lays out, in painstaking detail, how Switch games are encrypted and how Yuzu allegedly gets around this architecture. In one passage, Nintendo lambasts Yuzu’s quickstartguide, which reads: “To start playing commercial games, Yuzu needs a couple of system files from aHACKABLENintendo Switch console in order to play them properly” (emphasis Yuzu’s). As you can probably imagine, Nintendo doesn’t like this line very much.
Altogether, Nintendo’s lawyers seem to mostly latch onto the decryption methods orbiting Yuzu rather than the emulator itself. It openly states that “Nintendo is not aware of any source of decrypted Nintendo Switch game ROMs,” and Yuzu’s become the prime target in its hunt to shut down ROM circumvention. Nintendo calls the whole thing “unlawful” about a million times, and bundles in the “other unlawful devices and software” Yuzu recommends for emulation, specifically TegraRcmGUI, bootloader Hekate, Lockpick_RCM, NXDumpTool, and others – again, all spelled out in the Yuzu quickstart guide. Nintendo’s also putting the makers of Yuzu on blast for continuing unabated despite “knowledge of the infringements.”
Through this civil action – a notable distinction for the goal and scope of the case – Nintendo is seeking “equitable relief and damages” on the grounds of copyright and DMCA violations, as well as circumvention of technological measures (or TPMs) and unauthorized reproduction of works. Again, Bunnei is named here: “Defendant’s agents, such as Bunnei, admit to dumping Nintendo games they have lawfully purchased and copying the game ROMs into Yuzu,” Nintendo claims.
Importantly, Nintendo is also pushing for a permanent injunction that would see Yuzu et al cease everything Nintendo’s criticized – which is to say, basically operating at all – and even transfer the Yuzu-emu domain name to Nintendo’s control. Similar charges have fallen flat in the past, and many reputable emulation defenders have generally regarded Nintendo’s argument here as fairly weak, but the case remains up in the air.
On similar grounds regarding cryptographic keys,Nintendo had emulator Dolphin struck from Steam last year. However, as Dolphin said in a blogpostat the time, “Nintendo has not taken any legal action against Dolphin Emulator orValve,” but rather pushed to prevent Dolphin from releasing on Steam, again citing DMCA justifications.
“We do not believe that Dolphin is in any legal danger,” said Dolphin’s operators, who continue to work on the emulator and just recently shared anupdatethat coincidentally mentions several Zelda titles. “We can look to the end of the message Valve forwarded to us to show this. After all of the scary language, Nintendo made no demands and made only a single request to Valve.”
Nintendo is taking legal action against a Pokemon clone, but it ain’t Palworld.
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GAME REVIEWSMOVIE REVIEWSTV REVIEWS
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1
Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2
Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
3
Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
4
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
5Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
5Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
5
Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
1
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
2
Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
3
Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
5
Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
1Squid Game season 2 review: “Secures its place as one of the best shows on television right now”
1Squid Game season 2 review: “Secures its place as one of the best shows on television right now”
1
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2Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
2Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
2
Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
3Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
3Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
3
Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
4Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
4Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
4
Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
5Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
5Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
5
Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”