Nintendo Slams the Brakes on Dolphin Emulator's Steam Release, Delaying It Indefinitely

Dolphin, the popular Wii and GameCube emulator, will not come to Steam anytime soon. The Dolphin Emulator Project team recently revealed that the Steam release will be delayed indefinitely. Why, you could ask? They got a cease and desist letter from none other than Nintendo.

The Dolphin team says Nintendo used the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and asked Valve, the company behind Steam, to remove Dolphin from the platform. As a result, it's now unavailable on Steam. The Dolphin team is investigating its options and promises to give more details shortly.

Meanwhile, it's worth noting that this isn't your average DMCA takedown notice. Dolphin's ex-treasurer, Pierre Bourdon, noted on Mastodon that it appears to be a legal conflict between the two corporations rather than a simple copyright infringement. Dolphin's DMCA anti-circumvention appears to have irritated Nintendo.

So, what does this mean for the future of Dolphin? It is, after all, unclear. Dolphin might not be directly involved in the legal procedures, but Nintendo can take additional action. Only time will tell.

While the issue remains cloudy, one thing is certain: Dolphin's arrival on Steam is currently in doubt. Let's hope that everything works well for Dolphin and its devoted fan base. Dolphin has yet to receive any notices about its appearance on other platforms.