Nintendo Issues Takedown Notices Against More Switch Emulators

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Nintendo continued its efforts to protect its games by sending legal requests to have several Switch emulators removed from GitHub. While Nintendo has been working to limit emulation for some time, people are now talking about what this means for those who enjoy playing emulated games in the future.

Look, as a gamer, I know Nintendo takes protecting its stuff really seriously. They’ve been fighting piracy for ages, and it’s not just their games – it’s the consoles themselves, like the Switch. Just recently, in September 2025, they won a lawsuit against a company called Modded Hardware. Apparently, Modded Hardware was making these things called MiG Switches that basically let people bypass Nintendo’s anti-piracy tech on the Switch. Nintendo ended up getting $2 million from the settlement, and Modded Hardware is now permanently banned from making those devices. It just shows you how much Nintendo will defend its intellectual property.

Nintendo Issues DMCA Takedown Notices to Switch Emulator Repositories

Even though using emulators is generally legal, Nintendo has been using copyright claims to target them, arguing they contribute to piracy. Recently, Nintendo sent takedown notices under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to GitHub, requesting the removal of repositories for several Nintendo Switch emulators, including Citron, Eden, and Kenji-X. These developers were given only one day to comply, or their projects would be completely disabled on GitHub. Importantly, this action only affected emulators hosted on GitHub; those on other platforms were unaffected. Both emulator developers and GitHub have confirmed the legitimacy of these takedown notices, and users have been advised to back up any files they’ve downloaded.

Nintendo has previously taken legal action against companies making Switch emulators. In 2024, they reached a settlement with Tropic Haze, the developers of the Yuzu emulator, for $2.4 million. Nintendo claimed that Yuzu’s popularity had negatively impacted sales of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom when it launched in 2023. As part of the agreement, Yuzu stopped further development and handed over its websites to Nintendo. The Yuzu team maintained they had always opposed software piracy.

Nintendo’s Anti-Piracy Campaign Remains an Ongoing Struggle

Nintendo recently took action to protect its games, as part of a larger effort to fight video game and media piracy. In July 2025, the FBI, working with Dutch authorities, shut down NSw2u, a major website offering pirated Switch games. This was a significant win for Nintendo in its global fight against piracy. The takedown occurred shortly after the successful launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 console on June 6, 2025.

To combat piracy, Nintendo announced a 2025 policy allowing them to disable (or ‘brick’) altered Switch and Switch 2 consoles suspected of illegal use. While many users felt this was a harsh measure, it hasn’t significantly affected Switch 2 sales. With the Switch 2 remaining popular, it remains to be seen what further steps Nintendo will take to safeguard its intellectual property.

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2026-02-15 23:04