Last week, the popular Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu was taken down after Nintendo filed a lawsuit against developer Tropic Haze, which ended up agreeing to a $2.4 million settlement. Despite this, the developers behind an upcoming replacement emulator, 'Suyu,' seem confident that they can avoid a similar outcome.
After Yuzu's shutdown, it was only a matter of hours before replacements began flooding the internet in an attempt to take the emulator's place. These came despite Nintendo making its stance against emulation very clear, with its official Intellectual Property and Piracy frequently asked questions page stating that it's forbidden to download older games that aren't sold anymore, ROMs of games you already own, and make backup copies of your games. Specifically regarding emulation, it notes: "While we recognize the passion that players have for classic games, supporting emulation also supports the illegal piracy of our products."
Even so, the team behind Suyu is doing its best to avoid ending up in the same trouble that Yuzu did, after allegedly consulting someone who's been to law school for legal advice. Speaking to Ars Technica, one of the emulator's contributors reveals that Suyu won't be monetized, won't provide guides to help users play games, and, furthermore, it's taking a strict anti-piracy stance. Tying into this, users will supposedly be required to use real game keys from titles they own and have paid for, as well as the firmware from their Switch. However, it was noted by the contributor that there's no way for the emulator to verify for certain that these are obtained legitimately.
- Nintendo's IP manager admits "you can't immediately claim that an emulator is illegal in itself," but "it can become illegal depending on how it's used"
- Wii U online replacement Pretendo says "we are committed to user safety" as Nintendo warns against using third-party alternatives to its dead servers
It's worth noting that following the lawsuit, the team behind Yuzu also expressed a strong anti-piracy stance, and said that it had "always been against piracy" and was "not intending to cause harm." It added: "Piracy was never our intention, and we believe that piracy of video games and on video games consoles should end."
With that in mind, it's not clear if Suyu's anti-piracy stance will help it avoid legal trouble. Again, Nintendo has previously made it clear that making backups of games you already own is not permitted, so it still doesn't sound like the company will be a huge fan of this emulator, either. We'll just have to watch this space to see if it'll end up following in its predecessor Yuzu's footsteps.
If you're looking for more games to play on your Nintendo Switch, you can check out our recommendations for the best Nintendo Switch games.
