#yuzu — Public Fediverse posts on home.social

So...the #Yuzu situation…

Yeah, they shut down. But being an open source project, it'll get forked. #StreissandEffect and all that.

But there's something we need to be honest about. People using game system #emulators for legitimate purposes are more likely to be in the minority. Many will commit "ethical piracy" for things no longer available for sale (ie: older systems). But #piracy is a massive part of this community, whether it's openly discussed or not.

"But _I_ don't pirate! _I_ only emulate games I own!” you proclaim. Okay, cool. You're in the minority. Seriously.

Emulators are, in and of themselves, legal. That's established via precedence. #Nintendo isn't arguing that Yuzu is using proprietary information, code, etc, so much, but rather argues that it's a piracy platform. Their evidence revolves almost entirely around this premise.

Could Yuzu win the #legal case against Nintendo? Probably. But even if they won the legal battle, the Yuzu maintainers would, ultimately, lose, and that is, ultimately, Nintendo's goal. Even if Yuzu wins the case, put them in financial ruin over it.

"But people could contribute to their legal battle and help them stay afloat!" you say. Yeah, it's an option. But when you look at a community that is filled to the brim with people who just want free #games, do you really think that community will contribute enough financial help to fight Nintendo?

Yuzu was in a no-win situation. The legal precedence still stands, Nintendo didn't win a legal fight over this. But they got their wish.

Yuzu had to shut down to protect themselves. (correction in below edit)

And Nintendo will use this to bully other projects.

Edit to add: Yuzu shut down as part of a #settlement posted yesterday, that also includes a $2.4m payment to Nintendo. This does not change the legal precedence, but as I noted, Nintendo will use this to bully other projects.