Summary
- Eden, a Yuzu fork, launched on Google Play as a high-performance Nintendo Switch emulator.
- Nintendo has aggressively targeted emulators before; Eden risks legal action like Yuzu faced.
- Putting Eden on Google Play invites Nintendo’s ire; its future availability looks uncertain.
Nintendo is often embroiled in a battle against pirates and individuals who emulate its games. Every new hardware generation, Nintendo adds some new countermeasures to protect its systems, and people find a way to circumvent them. It ends up being an arms race until Nintendo pulls out the strongest counter-attack it can muster: full-blown legal action.
The company’s recent takedowns of emulators have left some developers rattled, even if Nintendo hasn’t directly named them as a target. Some emulators have been shuttered due to the mere thought of drawing Nintendo’s ire being too much for some, and honestly, I get it. Nintendo doesn’t hold punches in the courtroom.
So imagine my surprise when I hear the news that, not only is a Nintendo Switch emulator making trails on the internet, but that the developers have just uploaded it to the Google Play Store. Well, I definitely salute them for their bravery, if anything.
Eden Emulator has made its way onto the Google Play Store
As spotted by Notebook Check, the Eden Emulator has appeared on the Google Play Store. I’m not entirely sure how well my phone can run Breath of the Wild, but I’m sure people can find a use for it.
The description is short, but it contains an interesting nugget of information:
Eden is a Nintendo Switch emulator, forked from Yuzu, focusing on high performance without compromising aesthetics, compatibility, or stability.
See that part I bolded? If you’re unsure as to what Yuzu is, it was a Nintendo Switch emulator that people once flocked to. However, Nintendo accused its developers of allowing people to pirate The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom before its official release, and the emulator’s creators were fined $2.4 million in damages.
As such, seeing someone take a fork off of Yuzu and continue its legacy is pretty scary. Nintendo is likely to play whack-a-mole against anyone who tries to revive the emulator it has worked so hard to shut down, and putting Eden Emulator on the Google Play Store is sure to draw its ire. Whether or not it’ll still be up this time next year is yet to be seen.
If you’d rather not dip a toe into emulation and want to check out Nintendo’s newest console, check out how our editor picked up a Nintendo Switch 2, and it’s a bigger upgrade than they expected. Also, check out when one of our writers played Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, so you don’t have to.