Emulation is living in a grey area of sorts. For some of these projects, it’s a great way to keep some video game titles alive and accessible to players. After all, there are plenty of games out there that will never see a launch on modern consoles or is supported which means that emulators can give players the ability to enjoy these games long after they initially launched into the market. However, some emulators manage to release into the market well before the console is considered dead.
One of those emulators that have picked up steam is Yuzu which has been around for a good little while now. Much like every emulator out there, it’s a passion project but others have been using the emulator to enjoy games without paying for it. While the emulators can typically move on without too much problem, a recent update on Yuzu may have raised too many red flags. If you missed out, a new build under the Patreon account for Yuzu offered players the ability to connect online and play games which didn’t last long.
We are saddened to report that we have removed online support from yuzu, indefinitely, and effective immediately. We apologize to our community for the confusion and disappointment surrounding this release, and especially to those who were excited to try this feature.
We have received valid and insightful feedback from our fans and members of the broader Switch and emulation communities. Truthfully, we are all just a bunch of enthusiastic people from around the globe, who were genuinely excited about something we thought we could offer. In hindsight, we 100% understand your concerns.
The feature was removed and the team admitted their fault in adding it within the emulator. While it was an exciting feature to see in action, this would make Yuzu a bit more of a target from Nintendo, and those who caught the word of Yuzu offering online gameplay would likely result in potential players dropping any need of purchasing a Nintendo Switch if they own a powerful enough PC.
Perhaps years from now we will see this feature get implemented once again. Other emulators have offered multiplayer capabilities but the fact that these platforms are well past being supported, it may be easier for companies to turn a blind eye to the matter. It’s a bit more difficult to pull this off when the platform being emulated is something that is currently being supported right now.