Ryujinx

Editorial note: this entry is the reference implementation for the emulator content type. Verify every version number, requirement and status claim against primary sources before publishing.

Ryujinx was one of the two emulators that defined Switch emulation on desktop. Written in C# rather than C++, it traded some raw throughput for accuracy, and in practice that trade paid off on first-party Nintendo titles that stressed edge cases in the graphics and audio stacks.

What the emulator does and does not include

Ryujinx is an emulator only. It contains no Nintendo code, no system firmware, and no games. Running commercial software on it requires firmware and encryption keys dumped from a console the user owns, which is why every guide on NSWPEDIA covering emulator setup stops at the point where those files are needed and explains the legal position rather than supplying them.

Where it stands now

Official development ended in October 2024. The final builds remain functional and the source remains available under its original licence, which is what allowed community forks to pick up development. For readers choosing an emulator today, the practical question is whether a maintained fork has surpassed the final official build on the specific game they care about — which is exactly what the per-game compatibility matrices on this site are for.

How we evaluate it

Each emulator profile on NSWPEDIA records the platforms it runs on, its licence, its hardware floor and its maintenance status. Compatibility claims never live on this page; they live on individual game pages, tied to a specific device and test date, so a reader can see whether a result is six days or six years old.