nintendo The company has once again flexed its legal muscle, issuing takedown notices to several Switch emulator repositories hosted on GitHub. Nintendo's crackdown on emulation remains an ongoing issue, but users have discussed how it could impact emulation enthusiasts moving forward.
It's no secret that Nintendo is protective of its intellectual property, considering the company's legal history of ongoing anti-piracy campaigns. This policy applies to Nintendo software as well as gaming consoles such as the Nintendo Switch. In September 2025, Nintendo settled a lawsuit against Modded Hardware, claiming that Modded Hardware's products directly infringed its IP rights. The latter company created the MiG Switch device, which allows users to bypass Nintendo's anti-piracy measures on the Switch console. The settlement resulted in $2 million being paid to Nintendo and a permanent injunction against Modded Hardware.
Some Switch 1 owners are buying Super Mario Bros. I'm not happy with Wonder's upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 edition.
Some Switch 1 owners are considering Super Mario Bros. I'm not satisfied with the Switch 2 version of Wonder.
Nintendo issues DMCA takedown notice to divert emulator repositories.
Emulators are considered legal, but that hasn't stopped Nintendo from citing piracy as a way to crack down on them. According to a post on the Emulation on Android subreddit, GitHub repositories for several Nintendo Switch emulators, including Citron, Eden, and Kenji-X, have received takedown notices filed under the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The takedown notice states that GitHub repositories that do not comply with Nintendo's claims will be completely disabled. Emulators that received takedown notices had only one day to comply with Nintendo's request. However, Nintendo's latest DMCA notice was limited to content hosted on GitHub. This means that any Switch emulators currently hosted on separate servers or storage sites have not been affected by Nintendo's latest legal filing. In response to the doubts and concerns raised by users, some emulator developers have confirmed that Nintendo and GitHub's DMCA takedown notices are legitimate. Switch emulator users have been advised to back up their downloads.
This isn't the first time Nintendo has gone after Switch emulators through legal action. In 2024, Nintendo settled a lawsuit with Tropic Haze, creator of the Yuzu emulator. Nintendo stated that Yuzu's popularity as a Switch emulator had an impact on the game's sales. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom During the game's 2023 release. Nintendo reached a $2.4 million settlement with Tropic Haze, and Yuzu halted development as part of the deal with Nintendo. Yuzu also handed over control of all websites to Nintendo, but the emulator developers said they were against piracy from the beginning.
Nintendo's anti-piracy campaign is an ongoing struggle
Nintendo's latest efforts to protect its IP are just one part of its ongoing campaign against piracy in video games and popular media. In July 2025, one of the largest Switch piracy websites was seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The piracy site, known as NSw2u, was taken down as part of a joint operation between the FBI and the Dutch Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service (FIOD). Given that pirated Switch ROMs were hosted on NSw2u, the takedown was one of Nintendo's biggest moves to combat piracy around the world. The takedown comes just a month after the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 console, which launched successfully globally on June 6, 2025.
As part of its anti-piracy efforts, Nintendo has announced a 2025 policy update stating that the company can “brick” modified Switch and Switch 2 consoles that it believes are being used illegally. This move was seen as a huge overreach to users, but it didn't have a widespread impact on Switch 2 console sales. Given that the Switch 2 remains a hot commodity, only time will tell what else Nintendo will do in its ongoing campaign to protect its IP.
