Following the shutdown of Yuzu earlier this year, the development of the Switch emulator Ryujinx appears to have come to a halt after its creator was contacted by Nintendo.
The emulator, which began development in 2017 and launched in 2018, was the first Switch emulator capable of running commercial games.
Since its release, the open-source project had been maintained by creator gdkchan, who funded its development through Patreon.
However, it now seems Ryujinx is facing a similar fate to Yuzu.
Users attempting to access Ryujinx’s Github page reported receiving a 404 error earlier today, and concerns grew when the emulator’s download page also became inaccessible.
Word about Ryujinx’s status emerged through a message posted on the emulator’s Discord server.
Co-developer riperiperi explained that “yesterday, gdkchan was contacted by Nintendo and offered an agreement to stop working on the project, remove the organization, and take down all related assets he controls.”
He added, “While awaiting confirmation on whether he would accept this agreement, the organization has already been removed, so it seems safe to assume the outcome.
Rather than leave everyone in uncertainty, I wanted to provide this brief message for closure.”
A screenshot of riperiperi’s message was later shared on Ryujinx’s official social media accounts, further confirming the situation.
As of now, Ryujinx’s Patreon and official website remain online, but its download page and Github repository are still inaccessible.
The demise of Ryujinx comes just seven months after the developer of Yuzu, Tropical Haze, agreed to a $2.4 million settlement with Nintendo and ceased all operations following a lawsuit that accused the emulator of enabling large-scale piracy.
Given that context, it’s unsurprising that gdkchan may have chosen to take Ryujinx offline rather than risk a legal battle with Nintendo, which has a history of aggressively pursuing legal action against emulators and piracy.
For example, in 2022, hacker Gary Bowser was sentenced to 40 months in prison and ordered to pay $4.5 million for selling devices that facilitated game piracy.
In 2021, the owner of the ROM site RomUniverse faced a $2.1 million judgment for copyright and trademark infringement, and in 2018, an Arizona couple was ordered to pay Nintendo $12.2 million for running websites that distributed pirated ROMs.
Nintendo’s aggressive stance on intellectual property also extends to certain games, including its recent opposition to “Palworld.”
