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Pokemon fans and gamers worldwide were shocked by the recent news that Yuzu, a popular emulator capable of running a wide variety of Nintendo Switch titles, was being removed after a Nintendo filed lawsuit for DMCA violations, arguing that Yuzu's software bypassed DRM encryption layers of the Switch hardware. The suit resulted in Tropic Haze paying out a $2.4 million settlement to Nintendo.
As part of the suit, Tropic Haze ceased development of its Nintendo Switch emulator (often used for playing games like Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, among many others) out of piracy concerns by the emulator's creators and Nintendo itself. This was later confirmed by Redditors on r/Games, who shared that Yuzu's GitHub repository was taken offline, and Tropic Haze released a statement to address this.
What does Yuzu's removal mean for Pokemon fans?
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According to Yuzu's creators, the emulator was made with the intent that players would use their own Nintendo Switch's game/BIOS files to enjoy legally purchased copies on other hardware. They went on to state that because Yuzu was utilized for piracy of popular Switch titles (including Pokemon games like Scarlet/Violet, Legends: Arceus, and Sword/Shield), they were ceasing support.
It's no secret that many emulators in the gaming space are used to play games that haven't been purchased, and there are entire sites dedicated to providing ROM, ISO, and other files that allow players to enjoy games on the emulator without buying the game, be it Pokemon or otherwise. Moreover, Nintendo's stance toward emulation has been a particularly harsh one dating back years.
But what does this mean for Pokemon fans? Put plainly, if you have been playing Pocket Monsters titles on Yuzu, you shouldn't expect any new updates or functionality for the program. Those who already have the emulator downloaded to their devices should be able to continue playing their emulated games, but no updates will be made to Yuzu, and the emulator won't be downloadable on GitHub.
None of this is to say that players who pirate games won't re-upload Yuzu somewhere else, and it's likely that Yuzu and pirated Switch games will continue circulating on the internet. However, the creators of Yuzu have made it clear that anything involving the emulator from this point on will have nothing to do with them, stating their opposition to using Yuzu for piracy and early game leaks.
Moreover, Tropic Haze stated that it would also be ceasing the support of (and removing depositories) Citra, arguably the lone stable 3DS emulator. Fans who emulated titles like X and Y, the Pokemon Sun and Moon series, or Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire will be impacted. However, it's worth noting that if the emulators have already been installed, they're still mostly functional.
All in all, when it comes to Pokemon fans, regardless of whether they were using Yuzu and Citra with legal copies of games or not, they'll have to stick to the versions of the emulators they're using without multiplayer functionality. If you're hoping to emulate Pokemon games and haven't installed Yuzu/Citra already, you'll have to look elsewhere to play these titles, emulated or via physical purchase.
Unfortunately for Pokemon players, they've seen this story play out before. Nintendo's protective stance toward its consoles and intellectual property has a serious reputation. The company has gone to great lengths in litigation to ensure that players enjoying their games do so on their official hardware, and it's unlikely that the fall of Yuzu and Citra will be the last of its kind.
This isn't to say that Nintendo doesn't have grounds to prevent the illegal distribution of its games, circumvention of DRM copyright protection, or leaks of games before they are released (Yuzu was used to distribute screenshots of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom before its release), especially because Yuzu was financially supported on Patreon, a massive issue in the legal suit.
Whenever an emulator is developed for a game console, there's the potential that some players will utilize it to play games that they haven't purchased, and this is no different for Pokemon players. Many would argue that emulators are used more often for piracy than for playing legally purchased game copies, and that supports Nintendo's lawsuits.
With Yuzu and Citra no longer being supported by Tropical Haze, Pokemon players will have to look elsewhere to play their favorite games or at least be content with the version of the emulator they've been using. It may not have a massive impact on some fans, but it's a sad story for one of the gaming space's premier forms of emulation in recent memory.
