Switch emulator Ryujinx is taken offline after Nintendo makes an offer that the creator can't refuse

Nintendo sued the makers in February of the Switch emulator Yuzu. The company claimed that it "illegally circumvents technological measures" which help to deter piracy. Yuzu agreed to stop development and pay $2.4 Million to the company just a few weeks later. This was a major win for Nintendo, which led us to wonder if it would take similar action against other emulators. Now we know the answer.

"Yesterday [Ryujinx Creator] gdkchan received a call from Nintendo and was offered an agreement to stop work on the project, remove his organization and all assets he controls," posted developer and moderator rip peri peri on the Ryujinx Discord. "While waiting for confirmation on whether or not he would accept this agreement, I believe it is safe to say that the outcome will be."

It certainly appears to be. The download page on ryujinx.org has been blanked out, and the link to the emulator on Github now leads to a 404. Gdkchan is yet to comment on the matter. However, the Discord message has been shared on the Ryujinx Feed on X.

Rip in peri-peri said Ryujinx's developers were working on a lot of things behind the scenes, including an iOS version "that ran really smoothly," an Android port that wasn't ready for primetime, and improvements to performance, compatibility and "the overall experience."

They wrote: "This would have been the true evolution of emulators going forward, but the changes were stuck in limbo.

"I feel this desire for perfect over getting there as quickly as possible set us aside as an emulator but unfortunately, it means that you didn't see some of our finest work in action. Keep it in your mind as a vision of the possibilities."

While they will no longer be on the Switch scene, rip in peri peri said that they still believe in the importance of emulation, and hope that other developers won't feel discouraged by the closure of Ryujinx. "The future of video game preservation depends on individuals, and perhaps one day it will be properly recognized."

I believe that other emulator developers are likely to be discouraged by Nintendo's aggressive pursuit of anyone who steps on its turf. Nintendo's legal strategy, as we noted when it filed a suit against the survival game Palworld could be described as "vengeful," but even that doesn’t always convey how willing the company is to wage a total war over little potatoes.

Recall, for instance, how Nintendo infamously destroyed the life of Gary Bowser, who spent more than a year in prison for selling "circumvention devices"--considerably less than he was originally sentenced to, for the record--and now owes the company more than $14 million, which Nintendo is determinedly collecting. Bowser stated in a recent interview that the sentence was a message for others. It's likely this message has been heard widely.

Some redditors are of the opinion that gdkchan was "sold out" by Nintendo for an undisclosed, but probably large sum of money. I'm not certain where that statement comes from. It may be based on the "offered an arrangement" language in the shutdown message. I've asked, but it doesn't appear likely at this time. Especially given Nintendo's past as noted above. I feel that any deal involving Nintendo with an emulator would be more "wake-up beside a horse's heads" than "big fat checks."

It's a big blow for the emulation community and the preservation of games in general. It'll be difficult to eradicate Ryujinx completely, just as it was with Yuzu: the source code has been removed from Github, but it is already being shared on Reddit. Nintendo will likely be very strict with any attempts to bring the project back to life, even if there are other developers willing to take it on.