Nintendo has filed seven DMCA notices against GitHub in a single day, removing 401 Nintendo Switch emulator repositories from the platform, as reported by VGC.
The biggest target was Suyu, the most popular successor to the collapsed Yuzu: 311 of the 401 repositories belonged to its network. The other notices covered the Android emulator Skyline, the C#-based MonoNX, and assorted Yuzu forks.
Nintendo Switch emulator takedowns: a brief history
Nintendo has argued for years that Switch emulators circumvent the encryption protecting its games. The company settled its lawsuit against Yuzu creator Tropic Haze in 2024 for $2.4 million, and GitHub removed 8,535 Yuzu clones under a single notice in May of that year.
A further notice in February 2026 covered Yuzu and a dozen other emulators. The latest round, first reported by TorrentFreak, was filed as seven separate notices on the same day.
| Emulator | Repositories removed |
|---|---|
| Suyu (Yuzu successor) | 311 |
| Skyline (Android) | 29 |
| Yuzu forks | 44 |
| MonoNX (C#-based) | 17 |
The notices repeat the same claim: the emulators decrypt Switch games using unauthorised copies of Nintendo’s prod.keys, which Nintendo calls “unlawful trafficking” under the DMCA.
“The reported repositories offer, link to, or otherwise provide access to Nintendo Switch emulators. Nintendo Switch emulators are primarily designed to play Nintendo Switch games. Specifically, these Nintendo Switch emulators illegally circumvent Nintendo’s TPMs in order to run illegal copies of Nintendo Switch games.”
Nintendo’s DMCA notice to GitHub
What the precedents actually prove
Nintendo’s notices cite two prior cases, neither of which settled the emulator question on its merits. The first is the Tropic Haze consent judgment, which ended in a settlement. The second is the default judgment against streamer Jesse Keighin, ordered to pay $17,500 after he stopped responding.
GitHub says it reviews circumvention claims carefully and errs on the side of developers when a claim’s validity is unclear. The Yuzu framework has made Nintendo’s notices close to routine anyway.
The whack-a-mole problem
Every emulator on this week’s list was already supposed to be gone. They were forked, mirrored or revived, which put them back on Nintendo’s radar. Removing the repositories is the easy part; keeping the code offline is the part that never quite finishes.
Forks tend to reappear faster than the notices can remove them. Skyline, removed this week, was shut down voluntarily by its developers in 2023 — the code simply outlived the project. Nintendo’s focus remains on Switch, but emulation itself keeps moving: PS5 emulation hit a milestone this year when GTA V booted on PC.
The DMCA notices are one front. Nintendo’s Palworld lawsuit continues separately.
What is Suyu?
Suyu is a Nintendo Switch emulator that became the most popular successor to Yuzu after Yuzu shut down in 2024. Its GitHub network was the biggest target in this takedown round, with 311 repositories removed.
Is Switch emulation illegal?
Emulators themselves are legal software, but Nintendo argues these projects violate the DMCA because they bypass the encryption that protects Switch games. That argument has not been tested on its merits in court; the precedents Nintendo cites are a settlement and a default judgment.
What is a DMCA takedown?
A DMCA takedown is a request under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act asking a platform like GitHub to remove content that allegedly infringes copyright or circumvents copy protection. GitHub reviews these claims and says it errs on the side of developers when a claim’s validity is unclear.
