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The Nintendo Switch emulator Ryujinx switches off after pressure
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The Nintendo Switch emulator Ryujinx switches off after pressure


Ryujinx, a popular open-source emulator for Nintendo Switch, announced its closure following pressure from Nintendo to cease operations.

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A popular Nintendo Switch emulator is no longer playable following intervention by the Japanese video game maker.

Ryujinx, an open-source Nintendo Switch emulator for Windows, Linux and macOS, shared a screenshot of the announcement on its X page on Tuesday. The emulator’s creator, gdkchan, was contacted by Nintendo on Monday, according to the announcement from Reifriperi, one of Ryujinx’s developers.

“Yesterday, gdkchan was contacted by Nintendo and offered to stop work on the project and remove the organization and all related assets over which he has control,” the announcement said. “While we await 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. Instead of just sending you into panic and speculation, I decided to write this short message to share some of the closure.”

The emulator began as a single developer project in 2017, later joined by a small team of developers, according to Ryujinx’s website. Ryujinx also included more than 3,200 playable games for its fans.

“Thank you for supporting us throughout the entire development. I was able to learn a lot of really nice things about games that I love, enjoy them with new qualities and in unique circumstances, and I’m sure all of you will have a similar experience. “Something special,” the announcement reads.

USA TODAY contacted Nintendo on Tuesday, but the company directed all questions about the situation to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA).

“The industry is committed to protecting the creativity and hard work of video game developers. Illegally circumventing copyright protection or engaging in copyright piracy stifles innovation and hinders the development of the entertainment experiences enjoyed by millions of gamers here in the United States and elsewhere in the world,” said an industry statement on copyright protection provided by Aubrey Quinn, a spokesman the ESA told USA TODAY.

Nintendo recently took down another popular Switch emulator

Ryujinx’s closure comes at a time when Nintendo is cracking down on emulators following a lawsuit against Tropic Haze, the developers of another popular Switch emulator, Yuzu.

Tropic Haze paid $2.4 million in damages in a settlement with Nintendo and Yuzu was permanently closed, IGN reported. Nintendo claimed that “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” was pirated a million times before it was released to the public, according to the source citing the lawsuit.

The company also sent a takedown notice to Tropic Haze to remove copies of Yuzu’s video game code, IGN said.

Emulators are not illegal, but downloading copyrighted material from games on the Internet is, Spokesman-Review reported.

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