The Switch emulator Yuzu and the 3DS emulator Citra are shutting down, just a few weeks after Nintendo sued the developer Tropic Haze who created the programs. In addition to immediately shutting down the emulators, the source code, Patreon account, Discord server, websites and social network accounts will disappear.
Tropic Haze will delete all copies of Yuzu and all related tools the company has access to, as well as hand over all modified Nintendo hardware to Nintendo. The developer has also agreed to pay 2.4 million dollars in damages (about 25 million kroner).
If Tropic Haze had chosen to go to trial, it is unclear what the outcome would have been. The emulator itself does not contain Nintendo’s keys, but has a “bring-your-own-BIOS” setup. Perhaps Tropic Haze thought it best to shut down the whole line and take a financial hit, rather than risking huge legal costs and getting huge damages and being in debt for life.
There has been speculation that Tropic Haze might have been able to continue flying under Nintendo’s radar had the developer kept a lower profile and avoided controversial statements that angered Nintendo.