Nintendo DMCA SteamDB doesn’t want users to use emulated Switch game images

Nintendo is back in business…

Today, perhaps as a surprise to many of us, Nintendo has filed a copyright infringement notice against SteamGridDB for posting screenshots of Nintendo Switch games that can be played via emulators on Steam Deck .

This is a strange move from a company like Nintendo as it looks like the company will go to great lengths to bring more players to its own platform. Perhaps the company is just trying to protect its intellectual property. As a result, DMCA takedown notices have been sent to SteamGridDB. To give a bit of context, this is a website where users can upload and use images for their Steam game libraries.

On this website, players upload their own images to the site to use in their Steam library. Most of them are different game skins that can be used to change their appearance in the library. It is also used when there is no cover, such as when the game is being run through an emulator.

While Steam does not provide downloadable emulation software, users can upload their own games to the Steam Library and use it as a one-stop game launcher. While the custom game links you create may not have thumbnails or icons, SteamGridDB allows you to get these visuals to make your emulated Steam Library entry look legitimate.

SteamGridDB has long been popular among Steam Deck users. For both Steam and other games, people used to add images manually. Some, on the other hand, use it to import ROMs into Steam for use as “non-Steam games” through emulation.

The recent rise in Steam Deck users and the dominance of EmuDeck in setting up emulation libraries has greatly contributed to the popularity of the database website on the Steam Grid. EmuDeck includes a utility called Steam Rom Manager that allows you to customize Steam image resources using a community database that stores all photos found for a given ROM name. If a match is found, the images are applied to Steam.

However, there is good news for all enthusiasts. According to GBATemp , this notice from Nintendo does not apply to all games. For a small number of games, the company asks users to refrain from using any graphics. Among them are Pokemon Scarlet & Violet , Splatoon 3 , Super Mario Odyssey , The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 .

The very idea on which the site is built guarantees that it will continue to attract attention. We can’t tell you much at the moment, but we’ll be sure to let you know when we have more information.