"This is such a dark time for emulation": Players lament Nintendo emulators Yuzu and Citra shutting down 

The recent Nintendo vs Yuzu debacle has culminated in a complete shutdown of both Yuzu and Citra projects, to the dismay of players worldwide. Users have taken to multiple social media sites to express their frustration at the company. This behavior is not atypical of Nintendo, who has taken down multiple emulators and fan-projects in the past, marking them as threats to their IPs.

A comment from an X user perfectly sums up the situation in one sentence:

"This is such a dark time for emulation."

With no real alternatives and Nintendo’s unwillingness to preserve a good chunk of its library, game preservation is a real danger at the moment.

Disclaimer: Parts of this article are subjective and solely reflect the author's opinions.

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Players mourn the shutdown of Nintendo emulators Yuzu and Citra

Players worldwide were shocked at the announcement of the shutdown of not only Yuzu (a Nintendo Switch emulator) but also Citra (arguably the only good 3DS emulator in the market).

An X user, Kaiba, lamented the removal of Citra, saying that there is no way for them to play 3DS games at the moment:

Another user, SuperWiiBros08, also responded to the development, calling the removal of Citra unfair, given the discontinuation of the 3DS system and its eShop:

Another user remarked on the situation, mentioning that “Laws are complicated” and “Yuzu devs were..not 100% by the book”, given their out-of-court settlement:

Popular YouTube channel Retro Game Corps also chimed in, relaying the unfortunate news of the removal of both emulators from Emudeck (an emulation frontend for the Steam Deck and Windows handheld PCs):

One user commented on the strange situation, remarking the shutdown of Citra was unnecessarily hostile given how the console (and its games) are not making Nintendo any money at present:

Another user jokingly commented that the team may be under a legal bind to post a statement, marking the response with a JoJo meme:

Meanwhile, one user celebrated the removal of the emulators, cheering for the removal of Palworld next:

Interestingly, others also welcomed the move to remove the Nintendo Switch emulator, calling out various questionable practices being carried out by the developer.

Another X user, Luke Plunkett, said that while Yuzu “flew too close to the sun,” its removal sets up a dangerous precedent that could affect all emulators in the future in some form or another:

Nintendo’s relentless move against emulators in the name of piracy, whilst simultaneously being unable to provide a suitable alternative to its missing game library, is somewhat unfortunate. The loss of Citra is perhaps even more damning, given that there is no proper alternative for a 3DS emulator. Besides, the 3DS is an expensive console to collect games for in 2024.