Earlier this year, the team behind Dolphin Emulator - a popular emulator that allows PC users to play Wii and GameCube games - announced plans to distribute it on Steam, going so far as to create a listing on the storefront. This ended up attracting a lot of attention, although it also seems to have turned the head of the one company that Dolphin Emulator was probably hoping not to come to blows with - Nintendo.It was revealed earlier today that Valve has delisted Dolphin Emulator from Steam, with the developers explaining in a blog post on their website that its release had been "indefinitely delayed". This is apparently because Nintendo has issued a DMCA notice to Valve regarding the emulator's Steam page, forcing the team to either pull the emulator entirely or file a counter-notice with Valve if they believe the emulator doesn't violate the DMCA."It is with much disappointment that we have to announce that the Dolphin on Steam release has been indefinitely postponed," reads Dolphin Emulator's statement. "We were notified by Valve that Nintendo has issued a DMCA against Dolphin's Steam page, and have removed Dolphin from Steam until the matter is settled. We are currently investigating our options and will have a more in-depth response in the near future."
PC Gamer claims to have seen the legal notice itself, in which it describes the emulator as a violation of "Nintendo’s intellectual property rights" and "unlawful", claiming that it "circumvent[s] a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under the Copyright Act."
It's possible that Dolphin Emulator could file a counter-claim in an attempt to get the emulator back on Steam, though that could end up forcing Nintendo to sue the team behind it. If that happens, it could have life changing consequences for those involved, and Nintendo has shown in the past with hacker Gary Bowser that it's not afraid to throw the kitchen sink at those it believes have wronged it. On the other hand, a win for Dolphin emulator would end up being huge for emulation developers across the globe.
It's unlikely that we'll see Dolphin Emulator back on Steam, though anyone familiar with Nintendo probably saw this coming as soon as the announcement was made. Nintendo has yet to make contact with the Dolphin Emulator team itself or the websites in which its already hosted, so it's likely the company is just taking issue with official distribution on Steam. We'll keep you updated if the situation develops any further.