Emulator frontend Emulation-Station has been removed from the Amazon Appstore, less than a week after its launch. The reasoning for the app's removal, is, according to Amazon, Emulation-Station, "facilitates emulating and pirating of games from third-party sources without explicit authorization from those sources", despite Emulation-Station merely acting as a frontend, and not actually including any emulators in the app.

The development team behind ES-DE has instead decided to go ahead with self-publishing the APK for the Android version of their frontend. In order to get the app now, you'll need to join Emulation-Station's Patreon, for $5.50 USD a month. You'll then be given access to the Android APK that you can install on your device. The devs note that you can cancel Patreon support after a month, and still keep the app and get future updates for it.

This is the second time in the past week that an emulator has been targeted specifically for "facilitating piracy", following Nintendo's lawsuit against the Yuzu Nintendo Switch emulator. If you did happen to purchase ES-DE from the Amazon Appstore, you can at least still install it, however the developers urge anyone who made the purchase to get the app refunded, as Amazon will not be paying the developers because the emulator frontend is "illegal".

News 2024-02-28: Amazon has decided to remove ES-DE from their Appstore because "The app facilitates emulating and pirating of games from third-party sources without explicit authorization from those sources." Everyone that knows anything about emulation knows that this is not true, and especially not for a frontend that does not ship with any games or any emulators. We have attempted to appeal this decision but Amazon has refused to reinstate the store entry.

Therefore we have decided to self-publish the APK instead of relying on any app stores. As a first step you can join our Patreon to receive a download link to the APK. Note that this is NOT a subscription, you can turn off recurring payments at any time and you will still receive future APK updates. But if you do choose to support the project long term in these difficult times then it's much appreciated. I have worked four years on ES-DE without making any money from it, and it's almost like a second job now. Supporting us financially instead of pirating the app is a way to make sure development will continue and that ES-DE has a future long term.



Please spread the word of what has happened and if you did buy the app from the Amazon Appstore then ask them for a refund and don't hesitate to criticize them for their decision. We have not yet received any money from amazon and due to them claiming that ES-DE is illegal we doubt that will change. Anyway, it seems like you can still install the app from the Amazon Appstore app if you have bought it, but there will obviously be no further updates published there.

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[Marc_LFD]

How many emulators are obtainable on android!?

How many do you want?

 

[Ilikegbastuff]

Amazon: takes down emulation system on appstore due to it facilitating piracy.
Also Amazon: sells countless amounts of bootleg consoles with pirated roms on their site

 

[Alixxr]

how do you even get a refund on the app? In my Amazon Digital Orders for ES-DE, there's no Refund option.

 

[Evilengine]

Ok, is there any other place, where we can find the apk (for free)?
Oh, and a working Sixaxis Enabler too?

 

[TheNintendoEnthusiast]

This def is a shock. I was expecting this to be in the Amazon store for the foreseeable future. It's good that we can snag it on Patreon!

 

[osaka35]

Wheels are used to make cars which can facilitate crime! BANNED!

What nonsense gibberish coming from amazon lawyers. I guess even amazon is scared of Nintendo.

 

[ChibiMofo]

Amazon makes no effort to stop the sale of dozens of different "brands" of ROM Hard Drives that more than facilitate massive copyright infringement (and the distribution of Chinese malware, of course). The have become the new Aliexpress. Hilarious to see them take this step. Someone must have forced their hand.

 

[MightySashiman]

Flash news, an OS, heck, a screen, greatly eases piracy... Ban them. When this corporate bullshit stop.

 

[Morricorne]

the attack on everything related to emulation begins. Thank you Nintendo

 

[Ilikegbastuff]

trees are used to make wood which is used to make houses which can be used to store illegal items. So I guess we can warrant deforestation through amazons logic

 

[k7ra]

Nice, so when they would ban themself for games & organization.

 

[Topaz95]

News like these don't really surprise me anymore because these corporates will never learn.

 

[Ilikegbastuff]

nintendo should sue themselves for making games that are pirated

 

[Bladexdsl]

amazon: we'll sell you devices to pirate shit but we really don't want you downloading the apps to pirate on the shit we are selling you!

 

[LeNoobio]

Amazon: takes down emulation system on appstore due to it facilitating piracy.
Also Amazon: sells countless amounts of bootleg consoles with pirated roms on their site

I just realized that it might actually be somewhat against the terms & rules of gbatemp to post links to Amazon ...

 

[Ilikegbastuff]

I just realized that it might actually be somewhat against the terms & rules of gbatemp to post links to Amazon ...

What link?

 

[LeNoobio]

What link?

I mean like - in general, because if you post any link to Amazon you post a link to a website that offers roms and stuff

 

[Ilikegbastuff]

I mean like - in general, because if you post any link to Amazon you post a link to a website that offers roms and stuff

but I didn't post a link

 

[LeNoobio]

but I didn't post a link

yeah but your post made me realize that, sorry for the quote / confusion

 

[Maximumbeans]

Would this be the same Amazon selling devices with pirated roms on them?

Are you insinuating that Amazon has become a lawless shitfest, too big to coherently manage, overrun with so many different products and sellers that quality control has become all but impossible?

ARE YOU?!