Popular Nintendo DS emulator DraStic has seemingly disappeared from the Google Play Store.

Over the past few months, various emulators have either been completely shuttered, removed due to DMCA complaints, or otherwise scrubbed from their official websites.

Popular Switch emulator Ryujinx had its GitHub page closed down and all official links nullified after its main developer received legal pressure from Nintendo. With similar fates coming to Yuzu and even Citra, which was developed by the same team.

Where’s DraStic?

Now, it seems DraStic has been pulled from the Play Store, but currently, the reason is unknown.

It is possible that Nintendo worked directly with Google to have the app removed from their store leading up to the full reveal and launch of the Switch 2, but nothing directly points to that other than past circumstances. Visiting the former Google Play Store page for the app now simply shows an empty page, as seen below.

Nintendo has a history of becoming especially litigious around the launches of their big handhelds and game releases. Yuzu and Citra saw their demise after their developers were sued for, what Nintendo believed, was their ability to circumvent measures that Nintendo claimed violated their copyright.

The full story about what rumblings happened to gdkchan, the main developer of Ryujinx, as he’s located in Brazil, and the country adheres to a different legal landscape than that of the USA.

A little under a year ago, DraStic became a free app and would see all future releases hosted on the Google Play Store.

DraStic goes free on Play Store

That same announcement was preceded by the developer expressing his desire to remove DraStic from the Play Store altogether and go entirely open source. The difference here, however, is that the removal has seemingly happened spontaneously a year later with no announcement or details on when or if the app’s source code will be published.

As is the case with all Android apps, the app not being available on the Play Store is only a small hurdle to jump over for those looking to enjoy the emulator still. Should anyone be able to find the installable .apk on a third-party website willing to host it for download, it can then be installed directly onto any Android device.

Nintendo vs. Emulation

The future of Nintendo and emulation is very clearly heading down a road that has all too often ended with emulators being removed and people being sued. The intersection between trying to justify morally, legally, and ethically targeting emulation has put Nintendo in a position where decades-long fans are growing sour to their practices.

In the case of Drastic, as a DS emulator, it enables users the ability to play games from the DS library on modern technology. Nintendo does offer the Nintendo Switch Online service for emulation of select consoles from their past, but without Drastic or another DS emulator, there’s no way to play those DS games unless you had purchased a DS years ago or managed to find one on the third-party reseller market. Now, it seems there may be one less easy option to ensure the longevity of the console.

If any new information about Drastic’s removal becomes available, Retro Handhelds will be the first to report it directly to you.

UPDATE: This article was updated on February 14, 2025 to clarify the developer’s initial plan to remove the app and share the source code before deciding to make the app free in March 2024.

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