Nintendo Removes More Than 400 Switch Emulator Repositories

Nintendo has escalated its campaign against Nintendo Switch emulation, filing DMCA notices that led GitHub to remove more than 400 repositories connected with Switch emulator projects.

The repositories were associated with Yuzu, Suyu and Skyline. The sweep affects code hosted on GitHub, rather than representing a single new emulator release or one isolated takedown.

Why Yuzu, Suyu and Skyline were targeted

In 2024, Nintendo reached a $2.4 million settlement with Tropic Haze, the company behind Yuzu. The agreement required Tropic Haze to stop developing the emulator and remove its code from its official repository.

Yuzu was open source, however, allowing developers to create forks. One of those projects developed into Suyu, which Nintendo has now included in its latest enforcement action. Skyline, an Android emulator, was discontinued by its developers in 2023 after pressure from Nintendo. The Skyline emulator discussion records that project’s closure.

For readers interested in how arcade hardware and software evolve, RETROCADE’s Arcade Blog covers wider developments across the industry.

Nintendo’s argument about encryption

Nintendo says emulators such as Yuzu and Suyu encourage piracy by bypassing its technological protection measures, or TPMs. These protections use encryption in the Switch console and game files to prevent unlawful access to and copying of Switch software.

In its DMCA takedown order to GitHub, Nintendo argued that the affected emulators illegally circumvent those protections to run unauthorised copies of Switch games. The company further claimed that the programs necessarily use unauthorised copies of cryptographic keys to decrypt game ROMs during, or immediately before, runtime.

A broader legal campaign

The latest notices refer to Nintendo’s settlement with Tropic Haze and its case against content creator Jesse “EveryGameGuru” Keighin, who streamed pirated games before release. Neither matter was contested through a full court challenge: the Tropic Haze dispute ended in settlement, while Nintendo won against Keighin by default after he stopped responding and reportedly destroyed evidence.

Nintendo has also reached an out-of-court agreement with the Switch emulator project Ryujinx, resulting in that project going offline. In another anti-piracy action, the company sued a Reddit moderator who promoted pirated games for $4.5 million.

For Australian arcade owners, the situation is a reminder to consider the software source and licensing position behind any digital arcade setup. RETROCADE’s Arcade Machine Buying Guide offers a starting point for assessing hardware, while arcade parts and controls can help with legitimate repair and upgrade projects.

Those building a cabinet from the ground up can also compare DIY arcade kits before choosing a configuration.