The popular Nintendo Switch emulator has been forced to shut down after the lead developer, known as “gdkchan,” was contacted by Nintendo’s legal team.
The company demanded the removal of all associated assets and halted further development, according to a message shared by developer “riperiperi” on Discord.
While the specifics of the agreement between Nintendo and gdkchan remain undisclosed, all download links have been scrubbed from the Ryujinx website, and the project’s Github repository has been archived and made read-only.
This closure comes months after Nintendo successfully shut down another Switch emulator, Yuzu, following a US$2.4 million settlement. Before that, Nintendo had sued Yuzu for copyright infringement and for the piracy of the hugely popular The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Ryujinx had been an open-source emulator compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux, widely used by enthusiasts to play Switch games on other platforms. Nintendo has recently been mounting legal pressure on emulators to combat piracy and protect its intellectual property, as seen with previous lawsuits against developers infringing on the company’s patents and copyrights.
This move leaves a significant gap in the emulation community, with users expressing disappointment over the loss of a project that allowed them to enjoy their favorite Nintendo game—though not as they were intended.
