It is well known that Nintendo does not get along very well with emulation that does not run on their own, even if it is non-profit and purely preservation-oriented. The Japanese company has reaffirmed this by preventing the distribution of one of the most popular emulators of its consoles on Steam.
We are referring to Dolphin Emulator, the Nintendo GameCube and Wii emulator that allows you to play the entire catalog of games that appeared on both platforms, thanks to its high compatibility and many years of development.
The project dates back to 2003 when it began in closed form, but in 2008 it became open source. Since then, over 200 people have contributed to the project and surprised gamers when they announced in March 2023 that the Dolphin emulator would arrive on Steam; in fact, it already had an official page.
NINTENDO BANS DOLPHIN ON STEAM
However, at the time of writing this article, if you want to go to the Dolphin Emulator page on Steam, the link will redirect you to the official page, as is usual with links from Steam pages that do not exist or have been removed. And this is because this is what just happened with the official Dolphin Emulator page.
The responsible for this was Nintendo, who contacted Valve to ask them to remove the emulator's page on Steam, which they did with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
"It is with great disappointment that we announce that the release of Dolphin on Steam has been indefinitely postponed," reads the official announcement from the project's developers. "Valve notified us that Nintendo filed a copyright claim against the Dolphin page on Steam, and we have removed Dolphin from Steam until the issue is resolved."
Honestly, knowing Nintendo's track record in copyright matters, the Japanese company has the upper hand in this case. However, the Dolphin Emulator team remains hopeful and says they are exploring their options and hope to offer a response in the future.
"We appreciate your patience in the meantime," they said.
It is important to make it clear that this does not mean that Nintendo has ended the entire project, but only its page on Steam and its subsequent permission to distribute it through this platform. That said, Dolphin Emulator can still be downloaded through the official project page.
What do you think of Nintendo's new measure to protect its brands? Tell us in the comments.
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