Nintendo Switch emulator Ryujinx taken offline

A representative for Ryujinx posted an update on Discord, claiming that Ryujinx’s lead developer, gdkchan, “was contacted by Nintendo and offered an agreement to stop working on the project” and delete it from the internet. “While he awaits confirmation as to whether he would accept this agreement, the organization has been removed, so I think it is safe to say what the outcome will be,” wrote the representative, who goes by “riririperi” online. Like Yuzu, Ryujinx is a program that allows you to play Nintendo Switch games on Windows PCs, macOS and Linux systems. According to the Ryujinx website, which is still online, the emulator is compatible with more than 3,400 games – although the link to download the program now leads to a blank page. Most other pages, such as instructions, FAQ and a compatibility list, no longer work. Ryujinx’s Patreon, where it has more than 800 members and earns $1,661 a month, is still active at the time of writing.

Polygon has reached out to Nintendo for more information. Polygon’s attempts to contact Ryujinx developers were unsuccessful.

Several developers spoke about the shutdown in the announcement on Discord and other channels. “I hope I was able to bring some joy to the people I’ve helped over the years or with the (now gone) FAQ I wrote,” wrote a team member whose Discord username is metrosexualgarbodor. “The first time you get an emulator running on a PC, then play through an entire game and forget you’re emulating it, is a truly magical experience and has been life-changing for me.”

The developer that made the original closure announcement, Ripiperi, also shared several ongoing projects that were expected to be released, including mobile Ryujinx ports – meaning players would have been able to access Nintendo Switch games on their phones. Riperiperi and others also stated that they do not intend to stick with Switch emulation, although they still believe in its importance. “The future of wildlife conservation does indeed depend on individuals, and perhaps one day this will be properly recognized,” they wrote.

Although emulators like Ryujinx and Yuzu do not encourage the use of illegally pirated Nintendo Switch games, they have drawn the ire of Nintendo for allowing players to access these games. When The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom The game was leaked online before its release, download links directed people to Yuza to play it, Nintendo said in its lawsuit – the game had been downloaded more than a million times and 20% of the download links were to Yuzu referred.

Emulators aren’t necessarily just for playing pirated games. Many people use them to play games they already own, but on a platform they otherwise couldn’t. Emulators are also often cited as important to game preservation – they are often the only way to play old games that have been taken offline.