Makers of Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu owe Nintendo $2.4 million after reaching a settlement with the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom developer, following a lawsuit over the open-source emulator just last week. Both Nintendo and Tropic Haze, the company behind Yuzu, filed for a final judgment and permanent injunction on Monday, according to court documents, after Nintendo accused the Yuzu makers of copyright infringement, circumvention of Nintendo’s Switch protections, and selling those circumvention technologies as Yuzu, among other things.
The settlement is pending a judge’s approval, however.
Yuzu is a free Nintendo Switch emulator that was released in 2018 months after Nintendo launched the Nintendo Switch. It’s a piece of software that lets people play Nintendo Switch games on their computers or phones — including Tears of the Kingdom, which Nintendo cited in its lawsuit, saying Yuzu let people play leaked copies of the game early. Specifically, Nintendo said more than 1 million people played the game before the release date because of the leaked copies. Yuzu doesn’t offer pirated or leaked games itself, but Nintendo targeted the company because the emulator is one of the few ways to play those games.
Beyond the money, the terms of the settlement dictate Tropic Haze will have to stop operations on Yuzu entirely — it can’t distribute it in any way, nor can it market it on its website or social media. Yuzu will also have to give up its domain name, which is still active at the time of writing. Yuzu’s $30,000 per month Patreon is still up, too.
A Nintendo representative pointed Polygon toward the Entertainment Software Association when reached for comment on the settlement. Lawyers for the emulator maker did not respond to a request for comment.
The Tears of the Kingdom publisher is known to be strict with its intellectual property. Nintendo’s won several lawsuits targeting pirated game sites like RomUniverse, where it was awarded more than $2 million in damages. Nintendo also notoriously went after an alleged Nintendo Switch hacker named Gary Bowser, who was arrested and charged for selling Switch hacks. Though he’s been released from prison, Bowser still owes Nintendo $10 million; he paid Nintendo $175 while in prison from money he earned working in the prison library and kitchen.
The Nintendo and Yuzu lawsuit has ignited once again a debate on emulation — whether the act of emulation is inherently illegal. Of course, emulation fans don’t believe that: A lot of people see Yuzu and other emulators as an important tool for video game preservation. Nintendo, clearly, disagrees.
