Dolphin Emulator officially pulls the plug on its Steam launch. Learn more about the history of Dolphin Emulator, Nintendo's Cease-And-Desist Order, the disputes that had to be resolved, and their perspective on the situation.
Dolphin Emulator Abandons Steam
Received a Cease-And-Desist Order From Nintendo
The Dolphin Emulator, famous for its ability to emulate the Nintendo GameCube and Wii games, has long been a favorite among gamers. The Dolphin Emulator Project team had plans to launch the emulator on Steam in late March to appeal to a broader audience. However, their hopes were dashed in May when the team revealed that the Steam release had been postponed indefinitely due to a Nintendo cease-and-desist order.
What Happened To Dolphin Emulator?
The Dolphin Emulator Project team recently discussed their decision to postpone the Steam release in a blog post. The developer of the Steam gaming network, Valve, apparently informed Nintendo of the Dolphin Emulator's upcoming release a short time after their announcement. Then, Nintendo's legal team asked Valve to stop the emulator from releasing on the platform. It became clear that no deal had been reached between Valve and Nintendo before the scheduled launch.
Due to this legal setback, the team's attempts to bring the Dolphin Emulator to Steam were put on hold. They acknowledged that Valve has the right to impose any requirements before software may be made available on its platform. Unfortunately, the Dolphin Emulator Project team was forced to abandon its enthusiastic plans for a Steam release in response to Nintendo's cease-and-desist letter.
Nintendo had made no demands at this point. A single request was made to Valve: to "explicitly request that Dolphin's 'coming soon' notice be removed and that to ensure that the emulator does not release on the Steam store going forward."
Dolphin's Wii Common Key Codebase Issue
Concerns about the team's use of the Wii Common Key in their programming also surfaced. To offer context, Wii games are encrypted and the Wii device uses a common key to decrypt Wii discs. Though the Wii software does not have access to this key, skilled developers were able to extract it.
As a result, several people have requested that the Dolphin Emulator remove the Wii keys from the codebase. The team responded by debating that the presence of the keys is not illegal under US copyright laws, since Common Keys are machine-generated strings of letters and numbers.
Dolphin Emulator History
The Dolphin Emulator has had a long history. It was first made available in 2003 as closed-source software before changing to open-source in 2008. It became the most well-liked emulator in the world over time, enabling players to play a massive selection of GameCube and Wii games. Its tremendous recognition among gamers is primarily due to its capacity to run games at higher resolutions and frame rates than the original hardware.
Sources:
Valve Reported Dolphin Emulator to Nintendo
The Dolphin Emulator Project Team Shares Their Side of the Story
