Switch development continues to grow, and thanks to a now properly cemented community, the emulation scene for the Switch can thrive above and beyond where both Yuzu and Ryujinx left off. The current main three Switch emulators as of right now are Citron, Eden and Ryubing, with the first two being based off Yuzu, and the later being based on Ryujinx.

Over the course of several months, a lot of emulation drama has been going on behind the scenes, be it with Switch emulators popping up only to be left in the dust after some initial commits, or some ordeals involving developers disagreeing and leaving projects.

All in all, and despite the hurdles that Switch emulation went through after Nintendo's take down of both Yuzu and Ryujinx, the emulation scene for Nintendo's hybrid console is now on a steady pace once again, and the latest update to one of the main Switch emulators, Citron, is a clear indication that an emulation community can thrive and work together to bring forth the best overall experience to the user that wishes to play their Switch library on their PC or even other powerful handhelds.

With the latest v0.10.0 update, Citron introduces several important bugfixes to its codebase, like implementing Skyline's dependent mod support, and adding compatibility with one of the most famous Switch mods to date, with it being Mario Kart 8 DX's CTGP-DX, now working on Citron thanks to contributions by none other than Eden developers JPikachu and Maufeat, which worked on a proper fix and compatibility for CTGP-DX based on TSRBerry's original code from the Ryujinx's development team.

A Note on Attribution​

We continue our commitment to transparent development and proper attribution. This release includes contributions adapted from the Eden emulator project, properly credited above. We believe the entire emulation ecosystem thrives when teams collaborate and acknowledge each other's work.

Additionally, the Citron update also includes the following community notes, with a special mention to the cross-collaboration from all main Switch emulator developers:

Community Notes​

This release demonstrates continued cross-emulator collaboration. We're proud to acknowledge JPikachu's work from Eden that enabled CTGP-DX compatibility based on TSRBerry's work from Ryujinx.

Citron remains committed to:

• Proper attribution for all contributions, regardless of source
• Community collaboration over territorial behavior
• Professional development practices
• Stability and accuracy as our core values

We're the emulator that does things the right way, every time.

While Citron just got updated to v0.10.0, Eden's is also about to release its 0.0.4 version, with the latest available version to download of the Eden emulator being its Release Candidate 2, which, if no more important issues arise, it will be moved as the official 0.0.4 release of the emulator after several week of development since its 0.0.3 release last month.

Given all the work being put in all the current Switch emulators, we can only hope that this comradery continues, all with due credit and respect between the development teams, and that further work can be shared between emulators for the betterment of the end-user.

Citron's Self-Hosted Git repository
Eden's Self-Hosted Git repository

 

[Ettino]

As a primary MAC user. I've been using Ryubing for awhile now and current version 1.3.3 with 20.3.0 firmware, has a really good compatibility. Most of the new releases run on it just fine. i'm keeping an eye on Eden and its Mac version.

 

[Renos44]

Should Nintendo continue to publish major switch 1 titles,
Can;t wait for people to start to once again start leaking and showing off piracy on social media on mass again and get this one nuked as well. Because people don't know how to keep quiet and sail the high seas in peace.

 

[Jayinem]

Funny that they're merging just the other day I was trying Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake on Citron and there were graphical issues then I tried it on Eden and it worked properly.

 

[matchet23]

The notice is less from what I'd initially expect, but overall-y good nonetheless since ninty can (try to) cut an hydra of many heads; more others will replace it.

Is too hard for N to understand that, is there a market necessity that they should exploit by officially selling their games to the PC? Instead, they choose to fight an unwinnable war against their own fans

 

[morelikejonarbuckle0]

This is huge! Has any other event in the emulation scene happened like this?

 

[NostalgicMillennial]

Yes no more infighting. Let's DO THIS.

 

[BlusterBong]

I give it 5 minutes before infighting happens again and yet another "head of the hydra" (that's been long dead) kills itself with no intervention from Nintendo whatsoever.

and if it doesn't, well being a Yuzu Fork certainly will kill it because they are just too fucking stupid to just make a new codebase.

 

[fvig2001]

Does this still ask you to install a third party app on the switch first? ( If so not touching it with a barge pole,DODGY AS FOOK)

I think that was only for discord so that they'd help you

 

[Viri]

So, how well does this work compared to Yuzu?

 

[update-freak]

CTGP-Deluxe Just Worked™. Working great so far!

How to install CTGP-DX? I thought atmosphere mod compatibility is needed.

 

[SecureBoot]

How to install CTGP-DX? I thought atmosphere mod compatibility is needed.

That's one of the features of this release. It now supports atmosphere mods. Just install it like any other mod

 

[Earthshine]

How to install CTGP-DX? I thought atmosphere mod compatibility is needed.

The ability to play via emulator has existed for quite a while now., just not in Citron. Method is slightly different depending on emulator, but for Citron:

1 - Extract the exefs and romfs folders from the CTGP-DX archive into their own folder. You can name the folder whatever you'd like, but I named mine CTGP Deluxe.
2 - Right click on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in Citron & select 'Open Mod Data Location'
3 - Place the folder you created in step 1 into the location that opened in step 2.
4 - Enjoy

 

[HarveyHouston]

Citron remains committed to:

• Proper attribution for all contributions, regardless of source
• Community collaboration over territorial behavior
• Professional development practices
• Stability and accuracy as our core values

Nintendo doesn't care. Emulation is always piracy, according to them. Lawsuit incoming...

 

[MeowthBlep]

Nintendo's attempts to kill emulation are always doomed to fail

Glad to see the switch emulation community chugging forward

we are so back

 

[realtimesave]

I could be entirely wrong but I believe the future of Switch 2 piracy lies in emulation, rather than original hardware. But anyway it's great to see Switch 1 striving in the emulation scene. Even though I have a stack of Switch consoles, sometimes I tinker with the emulator on other handhelds.

 

[SecureBoot]

I could be entirely wrong but I believe the future of Switch 2 piracy lies in emulation, rather than original hardware. But anyway it's great to see Switch 1 striving in the emulation scene. Even though I have a stack of Switch consoles, sometimes I tinker with the emulator on other handhelds.

I doubt we will see any functional emulators for Switch 2 without first finding some hack for Switch 2 and once a hack is found, piracy would be easier on hardware than on emulation

 

[Rith12]

What’s the latest firmware citron supports?

 

[DefaltPearce]

I still don't know which one of these will really pull ahead. With the pulling of features together, I would love for Citron to take the crown as "the" switch emulator because I have 3 or 4 different switch emulators on my computer right now. Excited for CTGP8-DX Though!

Ryubing has it's niche place as **the** Ryujinx fork all the while the rest are all from Yuzu. It'll always have it's own place. Eden vs Citron is where the race is at.

 

[MeowthBlep]

Ryubing has it's niche place as **the** Ryujinx fork all the while the rest are all from Yuzu. It'll always have it's own place. Eden vs Citron is where the race is at.

just wanna ask what are the differences between the different emulators?

 

[Jayinem]

I could be entirely wrong but I believe the future of Switch 2 piracy lies in emulation, rather than original hardware. But anyway it's great to see Switch 1 striving in the emulation scene. Even though I have a stack of Switch consoles, sometimes I tinker with the emulator on other handhelds.

Problem with that logic is you usually can't dump the games without an original hardware hack and even if you could you can't dump updates.