The Nintendo Switch is a 9th-generation console-handheld gaming platform launched in 2017. Even though it has just been released recently, we already see the light of the first Nintendo Switch emulator for PC.
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Best Nintendo Switch Emulators
Citron
Citron is a relatively new Nintendo Switch emulator with a full ground-up rewrite in its latest v0.7. It’s gaining attention for its Vulkan rendering overhaul and modern architecture. Designed for cross-platform use (Windows, Linux, Android), Citron aims to deliver smooth performance and compatibility.
Eden
Eden is a high-performance, open-source fork of Yuzu created by former Citron developers. It supports Windows, Linux, and Android, and impressively became the first Switch emulator listed on the Google Play Store in mid-September 2025 . Eden focuses on user-friendliness and optimized performance across devices.
Ryubing
Ryubing is a community-led fork/revival of Ryujinx, launched after the original emulator was shut down by Nintendo in October 2024. It retains much of the original Ryujinx codebase and focuses on accuracy and game compatibility.
Sudachi
Sudachi is a Nintendo Switch emulator first released in 2024 as a community-led fork of the discontinued Yuzu emulator. It supports Windows, Linux, macOS, and Android, and is known for its performance optimizations, user-friendly controls, and open-source nature.
Legal and Ethical Considerations: A Gray Area
The legality of emulators is a frequently misunderstood topic. In the United States, the act of creating an emulator is legal under the precedent set by Sony vs. Bleem! in the early 2000s. Emulators are considered clean-room software, built from reverse-engineering and observation, not stolen code.
The legal and ethical gray area lies in the software, or ROMs. Downloading a commercial game ROM from the internet without owning a physical copy is a form of copyright infringement. The legally accepted practice is to “dump” your own game cartridges and system firmware using homebrew software on a modded Switch. For most users, however, the convenience of downloading ROMs often overshadows this technical and legally sound method.
This creates a constant tension. While the emulator developers themselves operate within legal boundaries, their work facilitates access to pirated games. Nintendo, fiercely protective of its intellectual property, has taken a strong stance, famously filing a lawsuit against the Team Xecuter group for their Switch modchips and issuing DMCA takedowns for ROM sites.
