Valve Notified Nintendo Of Dolphin Emulator Prior To Its Steam Removal

Following the recent cancellation and removal of GameCube and Wii Dolphin Emulator from Steam, it seems Valve itself is to blame, at least partially. Valve reportedly notified Nintendo of the emulator’s existence before Dolphin was blocked from being distributed on the platform.

This comes by way of a report from The Verge, which received confirmation from Valve itself. “Given Nintendo’s history of taking action against some emulators, we brought this to their attention proactively after the Dolphin team announced it was coming soon to Steam,” a Valve spokesperson said.

Notably, Valve did not issue a standard DMCA takedown notice to the Dolphin team. “Nintendo of America asserts that your game content infringes on their IP,” an email from Valve to the Dolphin team reads. “Due to the IP complaint, we have removed Dolphin Emulator from Steam until both parties notify us that the dispute is resolved.”

As part of a separate statement from Valve, the company said, “We operate Steam as an open platform, but that relies on creators shipping only things they have the legal right to distribute.” It’s likely Valve notified Nintendo of Dolphin to avoid legal troubles.

GameSpot has reached out to Valve for comment.

Nintendo is known for cracking down on piracy and copyright infringement. Just this year, hacker Gary Bowser–who was in prison for piracy–was released, but still owes Nintendo millions of dollars.