Nintendo patent attorney clarifies company's zero-tolerance position on emulation

The general manager of Nintendo's IP department has clarified the company's position on emulation.

Koji Nishiura - who is also a patent attorney - presented a lecture at Japan's Association of Copyright for Computer Software at the Tokyo eSports Festa 2025 last week entitled "The Importance of Intellectual Property Rights in the Game Industry."

As reported by Denfaminicogamer (via Automaton), Nishiura acknowledged that whilst emulation software alone is not inherently illegal, an emulator could "become illegal depending on how it's used."

For instance, if an emulator copied a title or linked to sites where players could download pirated games, that would constitute copyright infringement. Or if an emulator disabled its game encryption or "technical protection measures," that would violate Japan's Unfair Competition Prevention Act.

Nishiura explained that it's because of the subsequent illegal application of emulators that Nintendo is focused on fighting emulation creators like Yuzu - not just to protect its own IP, but that of other developers who produce games for Nintendo hardware, too.

Earlier today, Nintendo revealed its first official look at the Switch 2, confirming that the console will release in 2025.