Nintendo of America has taken legal action against Tropic Haze, the creators of the popular Switch emulator Yuzu. The lawsuit, which was brought to light by Game File reporter Stephen Totilo, claims that Yuzu is being used for piracy on a large scale.
Yuzu allows users to play pirated Switch games on various operating systems like Windows, Linux, and Android. According to Nintendo, the emulator was used to pirate over a million copies of last year’s highly anticipated game, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, in the week leading up to its official release in May.
Nintendo alleges that Yuzu enables users to illegally obtain and play virtually any game made for the Nintendo Switch without compensating the developers and publishers. The company views Yuzu as a tool for widespread copyright infringement.
In response, Nintendo is seeking damages for the alleged violations and is pushing for the shutdown of the emulator. Despite the piracy concerns, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was the second best-selling game of the year, with over 20 million copies sold, falling just short of Hogwarts Legacy in total sales.
