Nintendo has targeted Nintendo Switch emulators and modchip firmware on GitHub. IGN reported that the targeted emulators are Yuzu and Citron Neo.
Nintendo sent four DMCA takedown notices to GitHub on November 6. Notebookcheck puts the impact at 144 disabled modchip software repositories, a figure that includes copies and forks, plus another 71 repositories associated with Citron Neo.
Firmware and Emulator Code
The operator responsible for two other Yuzu forks removed the code voluntarily. Nintendo alleges that distributors of the targeted software let users play pirated games.
For firmware repositories that were removed, visitors now encounter DMCA takedown notices in place of the code previously hosted there. The hardware involved includes Picofly modchips, which can be connected to a Nintendo Switch mainboard by soldering them onto it. Installing the targeted firmware on those chips enables them to get around Nintendo’s copy protection.
Projects Remain Accessible
The takedowns have not brought an end to the projects or made them unavailable, despite the removal of repositories hosting their code. TorrentFreak reportedly found further copies of the modchip software still accessible through GitHub on Wednesday.
An August action removed 401 Switch emulator repositories from GitHub, including 311 connected to Suyu, through seven DMCA notices aimed at whole networks of repository forks. GitHub allows complaints against both parent repositories and their forks when equivalent infringement is alleged, while Nintendo’s legal argument centers on bypassing protections rather than emulation itself. That earlier dispute involved proprietary cryptographic keys known as prod.keys, which Switch games need before they can boot and which Nintendo alleges emulators use to circumvent protections; the notices drew on Nintendo’s 2024 lawsuit against Tropic Haze LLC.
Nintendo has also recently addressed a Switch jailbreak exploit through a console update.
