{"id":987228,"date":"2026-01-07T06:02:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T06:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=458905"},"modified":"2026-01-07T06:02:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T06:02:19","slug":"nintendo-switch-emulator-ryujinx-taken-offline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/nintendo-switch-emulator-ryujinx-taken-offline\/","title":{"rendered":"Nintendo Switch emulator Ryujinx taken offline"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The makers of the Nintendo Switch emulator Ryujinx pulled the open-source project offline after being contacted by Nintendo, one of its developer announced Tuesday on Discord. If you\u2019re counting, that\u2019s the second Nintendo Switch emulator to be pulled offline in 2024; Nintendo sued the makers of popular open source emulator Yuzu<\/a> in February before settling for a $2.4 million payout in March<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A representative for Ryujinx posted an update to Discord alleging that Ryujinx\u2019s lead developer, gdkchan, was \u201ccontacted by Nintendo and offered an agreement to stop working on the project\u201d and to wipe it from the internet. \u201cWhile awaiting confirmation on whether he would take this agreement, the organization has been removed, so I think it\u2019s safe to say what the outcome is,\u201d the representative, who goes by riperiperi online, wrote. Like Yuzu, Ryujinx is a program that lets people play Nintendo Switch games on Windows PC, macOS, and Linux systems. The emulator is compatible with more than 3,400 games, according to the Ryujinx website, which is still online \u2014 though the link to download the program now goes to an empty page<\/a>. Most other pages, like guides, FAQ, and a compatibility list no longer work. Ryujinx\u2019s Patreon<\/a>, where it has more than 800 members and makes $1,661 a month, is still live at the time of writing.<\/p>\n

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pic.twitter.com\/2Ggt9SWoDI<\/a><\/p>\n

— Ryujinx (@RyujinxEmu) October 1, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Polygon has reached out to Nintendo for more information. Polygon\u2019s attempts to contact Ryujinx developers have not been successful.<\/p>\n

Several developers posted to the Discord\u2019s announcement and other channels to speak on the shutdown. \u201cI hope I was able to bring some joy to the people I helped over the years or with the (now gone) FAQ I wrote,\u201d one team member, whose Discord user name is metrosexualgarbodor, wrote. \u201cThe first time you get an emulator up and running on a PC, then play through an entire game and forget you’re emulating it, is a truly magical experience, and for me it was life-changing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The developer who posted the original announcement of the shutdown, riperiperi, also shared several in-progress projects that were expected to be released, including mobile Ryujinx ports \u2014 meaning players would have been able to access Nintendo Switch games on their phones. Riperiperi, alongside others, also noted they don\u2019t intend to remain in Switch emulation, though they still believe in its importance. \u201cThe future of game preservation does depend on individuals, and maybe one day it’ll be properly recognized,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n

Though emulators like Ryujinx and Yuzu don\u2019t encourage the use of illegally pirated Nintendo Switch games, they have drawn ire from Nintendo for allowing players to access those games. When The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom<\/em> leaked online before its release, download links pointed people to Yuza to play it, Nintendo said in its lawsuit \u2014 it alleges the game was downloaded more than 1 million times, and 20% of the download links referenced Yuzu.<\/p>\n

Emulators aren\u2019t necessarily only to play pirated games; a lot of people use them to play games they already own, but on a platform they otherwise would not be able to. Emulators are often cited as important to game preservation, too \u2014 it can often be the only way to play old games that have been taken offline.<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The makers of the Nintendo Switch emulator Ryujinx pulled the open-source project offline after being contacted by Nintendo, one of its developer announced Tuesday on Discord. If you\u2019re counting, that\u2019s the second Nintendo Switch emulator to be pulled offline in 2024; Nintendo sued the makers of popular open source emulator Yuzu in February before settling for a $2.4 million payout in March. A representative for Ryujinx posted an update to Discord alleging that Ryujinx\u2019s lead developer, gdkchan, was \u201ccontacted by Nintendo and offered an agreement to stop working on the project\u201d and to wipe it from the internet. \u201cWhile awaiting confirmation on whether he would take this agreement, the organization has been removed, so I think it\u2019s safe to say what the outcome is,\u201d the…<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":987229,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-987228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polygon"],"yoast_head":"\nNintendo Switch emulator Ryujinx taken offline | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The makers of the Nintendo Switch emulator Ryujinx pulled the open-source project offline after being contacted by Nintendo, one of its developer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/nintendo-switch-emulator-ryujinx-taken-offline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" 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