After Nintendo strong-armed Yuzu into submission, requiring them pay $2.5 million and shutter both Yuzu and Citra, DraStic, a once premium Nintendo DS emulator, has changed its model. Originally found on the Android Play Store priced at $4.99, this 1M+ downloaded emulator with strong reception is now free.
As spotted by GamingOnLinux, DraStic is now free largely due to the unsafe implications the Yuzu case has on the state of emulators. Considering this is directly a Nintendo emulator makes it even more shaky, as it’s clear Nintendo won’t read between lines when it comes to emulators, still citing that it’s illegal to use the software.
As it stands, the developer — Exophase — doesn’t plan on having the emulator on the Play Store for much longer and the whole Yuzu situation made his decision more urgent to push their plans in motion. They plan on releasing the code to the public, making it open source so that if he gets out of the emulating scene or something happens, someone else can take the reigns.
“I just changed the app on GPlay to free. I don’t intend to even have it on there for that much longer but I want to make it clear that I don’t have any kind of financial incentive to not opening the source. Releasing the source in short order is something I fully intend on doing.
This change can’t be undone, so that’s it. I was already planning on this a while ago so it’s not simply due to the Nintendo stuff, that just made the whole process more urgent which I guess is a good thing because I’m terrible at doing things.”
Hopefully this is going to be a kick in the pants for Exophase to stay true to their word. The sad reality with Nintendo, especially the DS, is while they so closely guard their IPs, they simply have no belief these games have the right to exist outside of its current ecosystem of floating around copies sold by shady resellers who jack the prices up to an unfair price all because it’s difficult to find.
Owner
GWare is a gaming industry reporter with over five years of experience and a massive supporter of ethical game preservation efforts.