Yesterday, the Skyline Nintendo Switch emulator announced the end of their development efforts.
This decision was prompted by legal action taken by Nintendo.
Nintendo is known for aggressively protecting their intellectual property.
We recently witnessed Gary Bowser, a member of the Team Xecuter Switch modding group, facing severe consequences for his actions.
Nintendo made an example out of him, resulting in monthly payments for the rest of his life to avoid jail time.
In an attempt to avoid a similar fate, the team at Skyline deemed it too risky to continue their endeavors.
Skyline Emulator Closure
In a recent public announcement, the Skyline Emulator team officially announced their retirement from Nintendo Switch emulation development.
Their decision was influenced by the Lockpick RCM, a tool used to extract product keys from a Nintendo Switch, which violates Nintendo’s copy protection TPMs.
As stated by the Skyline Emulator team in their full disclosure on their Discord channel:
“We find ourselves in a position where we are potentially violating their copyright by continuing to develop our project, Skyline, by dumping keys from our own Switches.”
– Skyline Emulator Team
Legal Issues in Emulation
Emulation exists in a legal gray area.
Technically, it is legal to emulate games that you own. Extracting legally purchased product keys from your own Switch is also permissible.
However, the sharing of game ROMs and keys, which is prevalent in the emulation community, is a source of Nintendo’s anger.
I don’t condone their actions, as emulator developers are aware of the risks involved.
However, it is unfortunate for the emulation community.
Additionally, we may ponder the implications for other like Yuzu.
Nintendo has not aggressively targeted emulators for their older systems. While they dislike it, they focus on current-gen hardware.
Messing with anything related to the Nintendo Switch is risky territory.
