Nintendo files lawsuit over 1 million pirated copies of Tears of the Kingdom UPDATE: Yuzu agrees to pay, end service

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/nintendo-says-latest-zelda-was-pirated-1-million-times-pre-release-as-it-sues-yuzu-emulator-creator/

Nintendo of America has filed a lawsuit against Tropic Haze, the creator of popular Switch emulator Yuzu.

In a complaint spotted by Game File reporter Stephen Totilo, the platform holder argues that the “defendant and its agents are fully aware of the use of Yuzu by others in performing circumvention, and in facilitating piracy at a colossal scale”.

Yuzu enables users to play pirated Switch games on Windows, Linux, or Androidsystems, according to Nintendo.

Notably, the lawsuit claims that last year’s biggest Switch release, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, was pirated over one million times in the week and a half before its release in May.

“With Yuzu in hand, nothing stops a user from obtaining and playing unlawful copies of virtually any game made for the Nintendo Switch, all without paying a dime to Nintendo or to any of the hundreds of other game developers and publishers making and selling games for the Nintendo Switch,” the company says.

“In effect, Yuzu turns general computing devices into tools for massive intellectual property infringement of Nintendo and others’ copyrighted works.”

Nintendo is seeking damages for alleged violations and a shutdown of the emulator.

Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was last year’s second best-selling game. It sold over 20 million copies, a total only beaten by Hogwarts Legacy.

Thoughts, SW? Does Nintendo have a case here? How do you feel about this issue? I side with Nintendo in this case. Don’t think it’s right for people to pirate a game like that.

update

Release the ninjas!

I get that they are upset about piracy, but I don't see what ToK has to do with Yuzu.

It was Nintendo's own mistake that allows games to be dumped so easily on the Switch, and Yuzu is not the only Switch emulator. Once again, Nintendo is able to bully people because they have lawyers and money. Despicable.

I hope this gets tossed. I don't see a case here.

Does Nintendo know that their game is beyond unplayable on their own system? Like wtf is that, bro? Then add those Nintendo exclusive 17-27fps during most gameplay, and you make them play their own game for a sec, just so they understand how unplayable their mess is for today standards.

So how is Yuzu involved with Tears of the Kingdom? I doubt this will go even further if there's no concrete evidence to support this claims by Nintendo.

Waiting for Nintendo to sue Amazon, Amazon sells devices loaded with hundred or thousands of pirated Nintendo games and they totally let that happen on their third party marketplace.

Well this lawsuit is going to fail if that is their argument.😂 But, this feels more like bullying than legitimate litigation.

If you don't want us to emulate your console, build a console powerful enough that it can't be emulated for several years. Otherwise, deal with it.

Something tells me even THAT wouldn't stop you. Otherwise, Nintendo being a powerhouse has been over since 2006.

I have a Nintendo Switch with eleven games. Stopped buying them when I learned how easily they emulate.

It seems like an emulator would be able to run software designed for the hardware it's emulating...

With Yuzu in hand, nothing stops a user from obtaining and playing unlawful copies of virtually any game made for the Nintendo Switch

Except existing laws against piracy. Potential pirates could also use the official hardware to run pirated games without Yuzu in the equation at all.

It's kind of funny to see them in this position... Nintendo themselves have allowed pirated emulators on their platform.

Is Yuzu making money off their emulator? No. That would be the only real ground Nintendo would have to stand on. I thought Yuzu took extra steps to make sure keys weren't available out of the gate anyway. What about people who rip their own games and use the emulator because they want better performance since the Switch was a woefully underpowered device from the start? I don't think everyone's a pirate in this case.

Also, it's not like Yuzu is hosting ripped games. This is one of those things Nintendo doesn't have a leg to stand on, but is hoping for the invested parties to submit just out of not wanting to continue a legal battle they can't afford. I think they're bringing up ToK because it dropped off the charts a while ago. But that's not due to the game being unpopular, it's just the most front-loaded single player game ever and peaked in sales immediately. You'd think most software publishers would be fine with 20 million sold without "lost sale" paranoia.

Nintendo won't go after Pocketpair, but they'll punch down in a heartbeat.

Well, it's like my dad always said, and my dad's dad always said: f*** Nintendo.

Sometimes I feel like this is 90% of lawyer work.

CEO: "Hmmm, I don't like that. Can I sue them?"
Lawyer: "No, but you can scare them with a sternly worded cease and desist and threaten to sue"
CEO: "Excellent. Do it."

They also used pirated ROMs on their virtual console games

... or Nintendo can just release their games on PC and profit directly from PC gamers who have no interest in owning shit Switch hardware and just want their games.

Never mess with Nintendo they will take you down.

Nintendo bout to destroy them booty pirates. PC gamers are the worst.

"the platform holder argues that the “defendant and its agents are fully aware of the use of Yuzu by others in performing circumvention, and in facilitating piracy at a colossal scale”.

So? It's not Yuzu who's pirating the game. They don't have a case. Scare tactics, I guess?

Interesting line of argumentation, fairly certain you could have used the same basic argumentation to argue the PSP was a piracy device.

Can't see this going ahead but they may very well get their way through legal pressure regardless.

I don't think that has anything to do with it. Sometimes they argue, you're not allowed to mess with the code or recreate it or reverse engineer or some such shit...

The real question is, did they distribute the game? They didn't.

It's a non start really, because if there was a case, emulators would have been illegal for decades. They could argue the emulator was just for testing some home brew nonsense or something.

Also usually the makers of emulators make them unusable directly off the website, requiring you to find the last piece which makes it usable on your own, for this very reason.

@HalcyonScarlet: Bro, emulators are so legal you can buy them at GameStop…o wait.

@BassMan said:

... or Nintendo can just release their games on PC and profit directly from PC gamers who have no interest in owning shit Switch hardware and just want their games.

Pirates are pirates, doubt that would solve it

@SolidGame_basic said:

@BassMan said:

... or Nintendo can just release their games on PC and profit directly from PC gamers who have no interest in owning shit Switch hardware and just want their games.

Pirates are pirates, doubt that would solve it

I don't agree with that. When PC gamers are not being presented with an option to buy the game and run it natively on PC, you can't blame people for seeking alternative ways of playing it on PC. Sure, there are pirates that will pirate regardless, but I think those are a small percentage. When people are presented with a reasonable option that they can afford and is convenient for them, they are most likely going to go down that path. Nintendo complaining without giving people the option is just dumb. A good company tailors their products for their customers and doesn't try to force them to do things they don't want to do, like wasting money on shit proprietary hardware that doesn't even run games at an acceptable standard.

It's all because Xbox does what Nintendont. :P

@BassMan said:

... or Nintendo can just release their games on PC and profit directly from PC gamers who have no interest in owning shit Switch hardware and just want their games.

Like THAT would change s***. Also, as I keep saying, might as well hand them a Beretta and call it Russian Roulette.

It doesn't have a legal basis or will stand up if it goes to trial. It's just a tactic to scare the makers of Yuzu and bleed them off money with the frivolous lawsuit so they just give up. F*cking corporates and f**k NIntendo. Rockstar did the same thing with mods, knew that the defendents can't afford to fight an expensive case even though it was nonsense.

SHould be a law to protect average Joe's against bullying in this way by rich corporations and individuals.

..... Buying free software at a retail store ......

🤔

@pyro1245:Well, it's true, you can buy emulators at GameStop...

As for the Nintendo Switch, the knowledge of how it works is out there in a legal way...

@girlusocrazy: That’s an official licensed emulation machine. So try again mate. Unauthorized emulators are illegal. That’s why you can’t buy them in stores.

@mesome713: Maybe you should be more specific! Does this mean that GB Studio is illegal because it's unauthorized? I wonder why Nintendo didn't sue Microsoft for hosting it.

So what makes Yuzu illegal?

Nintendo doesn't have a case. Emulators are legal since the base code is from scratch.

Nintendo would just bully these guys out of business via legal fees.

Dem boys done.

@girlusocrazy: That company doesn't advertise itself as playing Nintendo games without Nintendos permission. Any unauthorized emulation of Nintendo games is illegal. Again, like I stated, if it were legal you could buy them in retail stores.

@mesome713: What you're saying is since you can't buy Yuzu in a retail store, it isn't illegal? I'm confused about your reasoning...

I mean you can buy a Hyperkin "Gaming console for NES" at retail... why has Nintendo let this go on?

We've covered unauthorized emulation of Nintendo games in a legal way... even when the creator makes some money, even when advertised as playing a Nintendo game, pictured here:

Can you explain how Yuzu is illegal?

@girlusocrazy: I’m saying you can’t buy ANY unauthorized emulator in retail stores. Never could in the history of gaming and never will be able to either.

@mesome713: So the RetroN is authorized?

@girlusocrazy: Yes, Nintendo allows it to exist. Nintendo how ever shut down all big 3DS emulators. And now will shut down Switch ones.

So all of these are legal.

F ... Corporate Nintendo ...

@mesome713: What big 3DS emulators did Nintendo shut down?

@girlusocrazy: All those big Flashcarts you use to could buy from Flashcart sites.

@pclover1980 said:

So all of these are legal.

Sure, they don't advertise playing copyrighted Nintendo games. Funny how you can't find one sold in Bestbuy or GameStop advertising playing copyrighted Nintendo games. You know why...lol

Depends if you consider the 28k€/month on their patreon "making money" or not. Kinda seems like they do.

@mesome713: I'm not sure where you see this. They're still being made and you can still buy them on sites.

@girlusocrazy: Here's what governments did to the famous FlashCarts. And yes, Nintendo won easily.

@mesome713: I'm not sure if taking action on retailers who sell a storage medium device in less than 5% of countries will move the needle on emulators... It didn't even seem to work since they could still be purchased at retail even after any court action in those countries.

@girlusocrazy: Do you know why you can buy them in China? Cause China has no copyright law. China's whole economy is based on coping others. Their government is scum of the earth.

@mesome713: Maybe they should stop making the Switch in China? I think you should boycott Nintendo until they promise to no longer do this.

@girlusocrazy: Nintendo will save China from their evil dictatorship. Nintendos games will slowly wake up the youth and bring the downfall to all dictatorships. Down with dictators?

@mesome713: I think Nintendo needs to do a better job of waking up the youth

#toadrights

@girlusocrazy: Nintendo is waking up the youth of China. Youth protest against censorship is at an all time high.