Nintendo Switch Gets New Tech To Stop PC Emulation

thegamer.com:

Nintendo Switch games usually make their way to PC pretty quickly, with Tears of the Kingdom even being emulated before its official launch. In response to this growing problem, Denuvo is offering its protection tech to Switch developers, allowing them to block games on PC emulators.

"Even if a game is protected against piracy on its PC version, the version released on Nintendo Switch can be emulated from day one and played on PC, therefore bypassing the strong protections offered on the PC version," Denuvo said (as reported by VGC). "By blocking unauthorised emulations on PC, studios are able to increase their revenue during the game launch window, which is the most important period for monetisation.

RELATED: Nintendo Is Missing The Point By Going After Switch Emulation

"The Nintendo Switch Emulator Protection will ensure that anyone wishing to play the game has to buy a legitimate copy. As with all other Denuvo solutions, the technology integrates seamlessly into the build toolchain with no impact on the gaming experience. It then allows for the insertion of checks into the code, which blocks gameplay on emulators."

Denuvo is the first security partner to join the Nintendo Developer Portal, offering its tools and documentation to studios that release games on the platform. This is new technology so we'll have to wait and see which games, or if any official first-party titles, will use it going forward. It also remains to be seen if this will be a permanent solution to stopping PC players, or if emulators will find workarounds to the tech.

Nintendo has been cracking down on Switch emulation all year, as only as recently as May, the team behind Skyline announced that it was halting development on its project following