Attorney chimes in on Nintendo Vs. Yuzu emulator battle, says Nintendo has a "real chance to win"

Nintendo has never been shy about taking legal action against people or products they perceive as infringing on their copyrights. While video game emulation is somewhat of a legal grey area, Nintendo has decided that one emulation service has gone too far. That service is Yuzu, an open source Switch emulator that’s been around since 2018.

In their official statement shared yesterday, Nintendo claims Yuzu has negatively affected their brand, illegally bypassed their software encryption, and caused direct harm to their game sales. Nintendo Switch decryption keys are required in order to run Switch software, and Yuzu points to methods to do so unlawfully. As a specific example of harm, Nintendo mentions that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was leaked online a week and a half early, and was subsequently downloaded over one million times before the game’s official release. (They also point out that the game was spoiled on social media, lessening the game’s impact for some fans.)

Through this lawsuit, Nintendo is aiming to have the Yuzu emulator shut down completely. They’re also seeking damages in return for the aforementioned violations and loss of potential game sales.

Following that bombshell from yesterday, The Verge spoke with Richard Hoeg, a business attorney who hosts the Virtual Legality podcast, to see what he thinks will happen in this case. It’s definitely going to be an interesting one with the potential for huge ripples throughout gaming, and according to Hoeg, he see’s a path to success for Nintendo.