Curtis Joe / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Eden is a new Switch emulator launching tomorrow in pre-alpha.
- It’s a Yuzu fork with new features and a new UI.
- The team previously worked on Citron, breaking off after internal disputes.
The Nintendo Switch 2 is less than a month away, and despite Nintendo’s best efforts, Switch emulation continues to forge ahead. Citron, Sudachi, and other Yuzu forks have kept the flame burning after Nintendo shut down the original team at Tropic Haze last year. Tomorrow, an exciting new contender will finally be released to the public in pre-alpha, and it might quickly become the best way to play Switch games on Android.
Called Eden, it’s yet another project that builds on the framework that the Yuzu team started. However, the team promises it’s not just another Yuzu fork, with a new UI and several new features already implemented in the pre-alpha. A video by YouTuber Alexwpi shows some of those features in action, and the performance is similar to that of other leading Switch emulators, even at this early stage. Breath of the Wild is seen running at 100fps on PC, and games like Mario Kart 8 have improved performance on Android.
This isn’t surprising since much of the team behind Eden comes from Citron, one of the most actively developed Yuzu forks available. However, disagreements behind the scenes caused that team to split a few months ago. Since then, Citron has focused more on closing its community, requiring users to prove they have a modded Switch to unlock certain features.
Eden promises to be more than just another Yuzu fork.
Eden’s lead developer, Camille LaVey, explained the reasoning behind releasing the emulator in its current state in a Reddit post. Although it’s still not as polished as the team would like, external pressures have pushed the team to publish their work early to avoid copycats. More specifically, there have been “fake repositories about the project on the internet, posts attempting to discredit the project’s development, and constant pressure from certain toxic groups.”
In the post, LaVey further outlined the strategy behind Eden’s development. The team has already reached out to Sudachi developer Jarrod Norwell to collaborate. Although nothing has materialized yet, they feel confident that “he will offer his contributions to Eden in the future once we have launched.” If successful, this unified approach will end the tendency toward “forks scattered across the internet with no clear purpose or continuity.”
You won’t have to wait long to try this new Nintendo Switch emulator yourself, as the official pre-alpha launch is slated for May 10 at midday. Join the official Discord server for the latest, including a download link once it’s available.
