Nintendo emulator Pizza Emulators pulls its apps from Google Play store

Nintendo emulator Pizza Emulators has agreed to pull all of its apps from the Google Play store.

Pizza Emulators, which distributed Game Boy and Game Boy Advance emulators on Android devices, said it made the decision to shut down in order to “prioritise [their] family over the development of my apps”.

In a statement posted to the company’s Discord community, developer Davide Berra made no reference to Nintendo’s settlement with fellow emulation software company Tropical Haze, only confirmed that after “seven incredible years of development and adventures”, they had “made the difficult decision to remove them permanently”.

“My family comes first, and for this reason, I have chosen to prioritise my family over the development of my apps,” Berra said, as reported by The Verge. “I want to thank each and every one of you for your incredible support over the years. Your words of encouragement, feedback, and constant support have been a source of inspiration for me and my work.”

ICYMI, Tropical Haze, the developer of open-source Switch emulator Yuzu, has agreed to pay $2.4m in damages to Nintendo and cease all operations in response to the Mario maker’s recent lawsuit.

News of Nintendo’s legal action against Yuzu surfaced last week, with the company claiming the emulator facilitated piracy “at a colossal scale”. By way of example, it said over 1m copies of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom had been illegally downloaded ahead of its official launch – and that “many” pirate websites specified the game file was playable on Yuzu.

“Defendant [Tropic Haze] is thus secondarily liable for the infringement committed by the users to whom it distributes Yuzu”, Nintendo’s lawyers argued, with the lawsuit ultimately seeking damages and demanding the emulator be shut down.