Dolphin team pulls the plug on plans for Steam release

The team behind the Dolphin emulator has cancelled plans for release on Steam following the initial announcement in March.

A lengthy post was made on the software’s website today. It was explained that, ultimately, “given Nintendo’s long-held stance on emulation, we find Valve’s requirement for us to get approval from Nintendo for a Steam release to be impossible.” Also reconfirmed is that Nintendo never actually sent a DMCA takedown notice, but Valve’s legal department reached out to Nintendo, and a lawyer for the Big N requested Valve prevent the Steam release.

Much has been made over Dolphin using Wii common keys to decrypt Wii discs with many believing that it could lead to legal issues. However, the team has received legal council and is not concerned about any potential problems. It was mentioned that Dolphin “is not primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing protection”, GameCube games aren’t encrypted, Dolphin can play homebrew, and is used in the development of game mods. 

Despite not believing that the Dolphin emulator is in legal danger, a path forward on Steam would seem difficult at this time – leading to the cancelled decision

You can read the full, lengthy notice on the official website here.