State of the Scene: Switch 2 Emulation & The “Great Takedown”

If you’ve been following the scene, you know February 2026 was a rough month. Nintendo issued a massive wave of DMCA notices, targeting 13 different projects. However, the community is proving that you can’t just “delete” code once it’s in the wild.

1. The Survival of “Eden” and “Citron”

Despite the GitHub takedowns in February, Eden and Citron (the primary successors to the Yuzu codebase) have remained active.

• What’s New: Both projects moved their source code away from US-hosted platforms like GitHub to private, decentralized servers.
• The Progress: While they are primarily focused on maximizing Switch 1 performance, both teams have begun “pre-emptive” work on the Switch 2’s ARM architecture. They are already optimizing for the higher clock speeds and DLSS-like features found in the new hardware.

2. Ryubing: The Ryujinx Successor

After the original Ryujinx dev reportedly reached a settlement with Nintendo last year, Ryubing has emerged as the most stable fork.

• The Edge: Unlike the Yuzu forks, Ryubing is focusing on accuracy over speed. It’s the go-to if you want to play titles like Pokémon Champions on PC with the fewest graphical glitches.

3. The Hardware Battle: Modchips & “Bricking”

This is the most controversial news for April. Nintendo’s latest Firmware Update (Ver. 22.1.0), released earlier this week, reportedly contains code that can detect modified hardware more aggressively.

• The Risk: There are reports on Reddit (r/switch2hacks) that Nintendo is now using “remote bricking” for consoles detected with 2026-era modchips. If the system detects a bypassed TPM (Technological Protection Measure), it effectively locks the hardware out of the eShop and local saves.
• The Solution: The scene is currently advising everyone to stay offline if they are running a hardware-modded Switch 2 until a new “stealth” patch is released for Atmosphere.

4. NxEmu: The New Hope?

A newer project called NxEmu surfaced recently, claiming it was built from the ground up to avoid using any of the “tainted” code from Yuzu or Ryujinx.

• Current Status: It’s in the very early alpha stages. It can’t run AAA titles yet, but it’s the project to watch if you’re looking for something that might survive Nintendo’s legal team by being “clean room” developed.

Summary Table for the Blog: