In a recent blog post, the team behind Dolphin, a popular emulator for playing Nintendo GameCube and Wii games on Windows, Linux, macOS, and Android devices, has officially stated that they are no longer pursuing the release of their program on the Steam platform. The decision comes after a series of events involving a dispute with both Valve and Nintendo, following concerns about the program’s legality and the use of the Wii Common Key.
Back in March 2023, Dolphin’s listing appeared on Steam, with the developers expressing their excitement about the upcoming launch on Valve’s platform. However, matters began to escalate when Valve’s legal department contacted Nintendo to inquire about the announced release of Dolphin Emulator on Steam. Nintendo then requested Valve to prevent the launch, citing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). While no formal DMCA takedown notice to Dolphin or Valve was issued, the Dolphin team announced that the release of the emulator on Steam has been indefinitely postponed.
Dolphin also faced controversy for incorporating the Wii Common Key into its codebase, which some claimed violated DMCA anti-circumvention provisions. This issue was later referenced by Nintendo in their letter to Valve, fueling the ongoing dispute. However, the Dolphin team argued that the emulator is primarily designed for legitimate purposes like software interoperability and reverse engineering, which is protected under the DMCA.
The team believe that the inclusion of the Wii Common Key does not significantly impact the legality of the emulator. They also pointed out that the extraction of the Wii Common Key did not elicit any kind of legal response from anyone and it was freely shared everywhere for over 15 years before it made its way into Dolphin’s codebase.
Today, Dolphin has announced that the team has decided to abandon its efforts to release on Steam due to Valve’s requirement for approval from Nintendo, which they deem impossible given Nintendo’s stance on emulation. Despite the situation, the Dolphin team does not believe the emulator is in any legal danger as Nintendo made no demands and made only a single request to Valve that Dolphin’s “coming soon” notice be removed to ensure the emulator does not release on the Steam store.
The Dolphin team expressed gratitude to the developers involved in the Steam release efforts and revealed that, while the release will not go forward, some features developed for the Steam version will still be incorporated into Dolphin’s regular builds, including a “Big Picture” GUI for use with controllers.
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