Earlier this year, Citra, the 3DS emulator, was officially released for Android devices. If you thought that this was the biggest emulator news for Android this year, then you thought wrong. Enter Egg NS: a working Nintendo Switch emulator for Android.

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While it was made publicly available a few days ago, Egg NS was developed over a period of two years by the NXTeam Studios according to the official website. The website also claims that the team is based in the U.S. but that remains to be confirmed especially considering the typos and Chinese texts on the website. The video above is one of the few that are available at the time of writing and have been posted on the official website but GBAtemp member @mattyxarope noted that YouTuber Taki Udon confirmed the existence of Egg NS on Discord (under #android-devices) and shared additional videos (some of which you can see here, here and here). Another YouTuber, ETA Prime, also said that it's a "a legit Switch emulator for Android" and shared a picture of the emulator running Hollow Knight with a video planned for a later release.

GBAtemp member @bylaws who worked on getting Android to run on the Switch noted that Egg NS "uses stolen code from yuzu for the GPU emulation".

According to the official website, Egg NS works on Snapdragon 855, 855+ and 865 phones, with a list of compatible phones available on their website. The catch is that the emulator works specifically with the $100 GameSir X2 controller which is available for preorder, since it apparently provides a code required to run the app. Upon closer look, the Egg NS logo bears some similarity to GameSir's Happy Chick app (the chick inside a cracked egg) which itself runs a number of emulators.

NXTeam Studios has also shared a games compatibility list, detailing the performance of each game they tested. Understandably, less graphically-demanding games like Cuphead and Enter The Gungeon seem to run better in Egg NS, with the exception of Pokemon Sword & Shield which is said to have a "perfect" compatibility.

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Given that Egg NS is an emulator, not all games will run as well as on the native console. You might be better off with a Switch for now but it does show the potential of mobile phones and with time, Egg NS might improve and similar emulators with better performance might even pop up.

@mathew77 already started a discussion thread linked as the source material below. As for Egg NS' website and download links, you can find it from the YouTube videos but aren't shared in this post as they contain links to illegally-shared files.

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[battlecatsahead]

damn this is insane

 

[NoNAND]

I don't care if it has stolen code or not i just want a Switch emulator for Android.

 

[Jayro]

I'll say this as many times as I need to, until it's as clear as purified water:

You can't "steal" code if it's open-source. That's like stealing those AOL CDs that grocery stores gave out for free. Or stealing the newspapers that say "free, take one."

 

[FancyNintendoGamer567]

noted that Egg NS "uses stolen code from yuzu for the GPU emulation".

Why am I getting DamonPS2 vibes?

 

[fvig2001]

I'll believe it when the controller comes out since the videos are already suspicious like it's 1:1 on handheld and whatever capture device they used. I believe it's probably an open source emulator ported to Android and then used as a ploy to sell the controller.

 

[Bladexdsl]

not surprised this works after all the switch is just an under powered nvidia shield

 

[Jayro]

not surprised this works after all the switch is just an under powered nvidia shield

Exactly, there's really not much difference in ARM architecture so I'm not shocked that the Switch is reasonably easy to emulate on a powerful phone. What DOES shock me is how bad Citra performs on the same powerful phone. (Galaxy S10+ with Snapdragon 855)

For a phone that powerful, 3DS emulation should be a breeze. The 3DS hardware (even the New 3DS) is super old outdated, and very slow low-end stuff... So it's shocking to see it run like dogshit. The February build somehow runs pokemon ultra sun even worse than the Chinese JIT built I had before it.

 

[yuyuyup]

I'll say this as many times as I need to, until it's as clear as purified water:

You can't "steal" code if it's open-source. That's like stealing those AOL CDs that grocery stores gave out for free. Or stealing the newspapers that say "free, take one."

I stole the shit outta them demo discs, hopefully the hardware requirements will soften,

 

[anhminh]

Exactly, there's really not much difference in ARM architecture so I'm not shocked that the Switch is reasonably easy to emulate on a powerful phone. What DOES shock me is how bad Citra performs on the same powerful phone. (Galaxy S10+ with Snapdragon 855)

For a phone that powerful, 3DS emulation should be a breeze. The 3DS hardware (even the New 3DS) is super old outdated, and very slow low-end stuff... So it's shocking to see it run like dogshit. The February build somehow runs pokemon ultra sun even worse than the Chinese JIT built I had before it.

Since 3DS have different architecture than a switch or phone, it not very surprise if it isn't fully compatible.

 

[Rafciu]

Exactly, there's really not much difference in ARM architecture so I'm not shocked that the Switch is reasonably easy to emulate on a powerful phone. What DOES shock me is how bad Citra performs on the same powerful phone. (Galaxy S10+ with Snapdragon 855)

For a phone that powerful, 3DS emulation should be a breeze. The 3DS hardware (even the New 3DS) is super old outdated, and very slow low-end stuff... So it's shocking to see it run like dogshit. The February build somehow runs pokemon ultra sun even worse than the Chinese JIT built I had before it.

I have phone with snapdragon 855 (one plus 7t) and im not having much issues with Citra... About what games we are talking ? Im using Citra official.

 

[Essometer]

So you are saying I can put Android onto the Switch to emulate the Switch?

 

[leon315]

You need a 300+ buck phone to run games, +100 buck phone controller to play and a legit switch costs only 200.

Why?

 

[Ev1lbl0w]

I'll say this as many times as I need to, until it's as clear as purified water:

You can't "steal" code if it's open-source. That's like stealing those AOL CDs that grocery stores gave out for free. Or stealing the newspapers that say "free, take one."

You're completely wrong, the source code for yuzu is under GNU GPLv2, of which some of the conditions are to disclose the source code and use the same license. If they are really using yuzu code without open-sourcing the project, then they're "stealing" the code.

Don't confund "open-source" with "I can do whatever I want with it because it's free lol"

 

[NoNAND]

I'll say this as many times as I need to, until it's as clear as purified water:

You can't "steal" code if it's open-source. That's like stealing those AOL CDs that grocery stores gave out for free. Or stealing the newspapers that say "free, take one."

High IQ post!

 

[x65943]

"The website also claims that the team is based in the U.S."

Interestingly the Gamesir website is a .hk address

 

[Valery0p]

You're completely wrong, the source code for yuzu is under GNU GPLv2, of which some of the conditions are to disclose the source code and use the same license. If they are really using yuzu code without open-sourcing the project, then they're "stealing" the code.

Don't confund "open-source" with "I can do whatever I want with it because it's free lol"

This + they are practically selling the emulator; while sadly Yuzu's developers can't do much about it, this software won't pass unnoticed under Nintendo radar...

Also I have a feeling it will only work with the popular/less heavy games...

 

[ChaosEternal]

I'll say this as many times as I need to, until it's as clear as purified water:

You can't "steal" code if it's open-source. That's like stealing those AOL CDs that grocery stores gave out for free. Or stealing the newspapers that say "free, take one."

You can, however, steal credit. If I download a free game, I'm obviously not stealing it. If I then modify it and release it as my own wholly unique product without crediting the original creator, then I have stolen credit.

 

[ganons]

Someone needs to mod it to remove that controller requirement.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Fuck the $100 controller "requirement", hope someone can bypass the license verification for that cuz there's no fucking way I'm gonna pay $100 for an emulator.

But ignoring that, it's a neat development, definitely interested to see how well it'll actually run stuff over time.