Tropical Haze LLC, the company behind the Nintendo Switch emulator known as Yuzu, has been sued by Nintendo in US federal court. The Japanese tech giant claims that the emulator violates the anti-circumvention and anti-trafficking provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
In a preliminary statement, Nintendo accused the defendant of "facilitating piracy on a colossal scale."
In addition to this, Nintendo has alleged that Yuzu has broken copyright law, arguing that the emulator is "primarily designed" to evade the encryption of the Nintendo Switch allowing its copyrighted content to be emulated for players in unlawful ways.
While Nintendo's driving focus is to remove Yuzu as a whole and prevent its use in any capacity, the company also wants to remove any domains, URLs, chat rooms, and social media presence that Tropic Haze may have developed for Yuzu. Additionally, Nintendo wishes to seize and destroy any hard drives linked to the emulator to ensure that any trace of the emulator is removed immediately.
Nintendo has stated that the emulator is "facilitating piracy at a colossal scale" by providing "detailed instructions" on how to use the software to play through "unlawful copies of Nintendo Switch games" while also pointing users in the direction of questionable sites to assist their emulation by giving them access to game keys.
Full details of the case can be found in the released lawsuit, as shared to X (formally Twitter) by Stephen Totilo. Although it may be a while before the results of the lawsuit will be shared, it doesn't look good for Yuzu.
We've got a guide to all the best Nintendo Switch games if you're looking to make the most of the hybrid handheld system. It's also worth checking out our list of underrated Switch games if you want something that might've slipped past your radar, or our guide to the best cozy Switch games for a more relaxing experience.
