Home Nintendo Switch emulator Ryujinx goes MIA after Nintendo gives creator an “offer” to expunge it from history

Nintendo Switch emulator Ryujinx goes MIA after Nintendo gives creator an “offer” to expunge it from history

Shockwaves have passed through the emulator community this morning as the main remaining Nintendo Switch emulator Ryujinx vanished without trace leading to speculation that Nintendo had “got” to the creator gdkchan.

A post has now appeared on X seemingly confirming that Nintendo has reached an agreement with the creator to “stop working on the project” and remove all it’s assets.

The post read: “Yesterday, gdkchan was contacted by Nintendo and offered an agreement to stop working on the project, remove the organization and all related assets he’s in control of. While awaiting confirmation on whether he would take this agreement, the organization has been removed, so I think it’s safe to say what the outcome is. Rather than leave you with only panic and speculation, I decided to write this short message to give some closure.

“These words are my own. I don’t want to speak for anyone else here, so just remember that while reading.
Thank you to @everyone who has contributed code, documentation or issue reports to the project. Thank you all for following us throughout the development. I was able to learn a lot of really neat things about games that I love, enjoy them with renewed qualities, and in unique circumstances, and I’m sure you all have experiences that are similarly special. I’m extending my own massive thanks to our moderation team, who have been here through some rough circumstances and always found ways to make light of it.”

Quite what the offer was is open to speculation, but after Nintendo slapped a huge lawsuit on another Switch emulator Yuzu earlier in the year and was open about it, this seems different.

The post on X was soon filled with high levels of hate toward Nintendo with many highlighting it has now eradicated Switch and Nintendo DS emulators in 2024.

As with Yuzu, forks of Ryujinx are expected to appear, but as no Yuzu fork really managed to take off and everybody moved to Ryujinx, the future for Switch emulation at this point looks bleak.

The news comes after Nintendo again failed to stop its latest big Zelda game from leaking online, leading it to be playable on emulators before its release on the Switch.

We have reached out to Ryujinx for comment.

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Paul McNally
Gaming Editor

Paul McNally has been around consoles and computers since his parents bought him a Mattel Intellivision in 1980. He has been a prominent games journalist since the 1990s, spending over a decade as editor of popular print-based video games and computer magazines, including a market-leading PlayStation title published by IDG Media. Having spent time as Head of Communications at a professional sports club and working for high-profile charities such as the National Literacy Trust, he returned as Managing Editor in charge of large US-based technology websites in 2020. Paul has written high-end gaming content for GamePro, Official Australian PlayStation Magazine,…

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