Nintendo’s attorney weighs in on what makes emulators illegal 

At the Tokyo eSports Festa 2025 held from January 10 to 12, Nintendo participated in a joint lecture hosted by Japan’s Association of Copyright for Computer Software (ACCS). Speaking on behalf of Nintendo on the topic of “The Importance of Intellectual Property Rights in the Game Industry” was Koji Nishiura, patent attorney and deputy general manager of Nintendo’s intellectual property department. 

According to an event report by Denfaminicogamer, Nishiura addressed the controversial topic of emulation. Nintendo is known for being thorough in their pursuit of legal measures against emulators and their developers and distributors, such as their takedowns of major Switch emulators like Yuzu and Ryujinx. These actions by Nintendo have prompted vastly different responses from gamers in Japan and overseas. Shedding light on the matter, Nishiura explained what exactly makes emulation problematic in Nintendo’s eyes. 

“To begin with, are emulators illegal or not? This is a point often debated. While you can’t immediately claim that an emulator is illegal in itself, it can become illegal depending on how it’s used,” Nishiura says. 

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