Nintendo has a well-documented history of taking legal action against those involved in the development and distribution of emulators and piracy tools. In March 2024, the developers of the Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu were hit with a hefty $2.4 million fine following a court settlement with Nintendo. Later, in October 2024, the Switch emulator Ryujinx ceased development after receiving "contact from Nintendo." The year before, in 2023, the team behind the Gamecube and Wii emulator Dolphin was advised against a full Steam release by Valve's lawyers, who had been approached by Nintendo's legal team with "strong legal wording."
In another high-profile case from 2023, Gary Bowser, a reseller of Team Xecuter products that enabled users to bypass the Nintendo Switch's anti-piracy measures, was charged with fraud and ordered to pay Nintendo a staggering $14.5 million—a debt he will be repaying for the rest of his life.
At the Tokyo eSports Festa 2025, a patent lawyer representing Nintendo, Koji Nishiura, shed light on the company's stance on piracy and emulation. In a report by Denfaminicogamer (via VGC), Nishiura, who serves as Assistant Manager of Nintendo's Intellectual Property Division, discussed the legal complexities surrounding emulators. He noted that while emulators themselves are not inherently illegal, their use can lead to legal issues. Specifically, if an emulator copies a game's program or disables a console's security mechanisms, it may infringe on copyrights.
Nishiura highlighted Japan's "Unfair Competition Prevention Act" (UCPA), which complicates Nintendo's ability to pursue legal action outside of Japan. He cited the example of the Nintendo DS "R4" card, which allowed users to run pirated games. After a legal battle involving Nintendo and 50 other software manufacturers, the sale of R4 cards was effectively outlawed in 2009 under the UCPA.
Additionally, Nishiura pointed out that tools facilitating the download of pirated software within emulators, known as "reach apps" in Japanese law, also violate copyright laws. Examples include the 3DS's "Freeshop" and the Switch's "Tinfoil."
In the lawsuit against Yuzu, Nintendo claimed that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was pirated one million times. The company further alleged that Yuzu's Patreon page generated $30,000 per month by offering subscribers "daily updates," "early access," and "special unreleased features" to games like Tears of the Kingdom.
