Wii And GameCube Emulator Dolphin Headed To Steam In Q2 2023

Dolphin, which definitely isn't a Wii and GameCube emulator, wink wink, is coming to Steam later this year.


Published: March 28, 2023 3:02 AM /

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A banner with the Steam Deck in the background proclaiming "Dolphin is coming to Steam"

Popular Wii and GameCube emulator Dolphin is finally heading to Steam this year, and the creators have chosen some pretty amusing words to describe the emulator on its new Steam page. Naturally, Dolphin can't admit to being a Nintendo console emulator, so the creators have decided to skirt the issue, and it's pretty funny.

In the official announcement of Dolphin's impending arrival on Steam, the devs say that the store page is live, but that the emulator won't be available to download via Steam for a few months. It's currently slated to arrive in the second quarter of 2023, which likely means we can expect it sometime between April and June.

The description for the Steam store page is when things start to get fun. On Steam, Dolphin describes itself as "an emulator for the big N's 6th and 7th generation consoles". Later on, Dolphin says the emulator is for "the big N's cube-shaped and motion-controlled consoles". Hmm. I wonder which two machines those could be.

A random freeware game depicting a blocky house in the Dolphin emulator on Steam
Here is one of the games you will definitely be playing on Dolphin when it launches on Steam. Yes sirree.

According to the Steam description, Dolphin is capable of running games "originally developed for two of the Big N's revolutionary consoles". "Revolution" is underlined in the description, since that was the Wii's codename back when it was in development. 

Watching Dolphin skate carefully around the issue of being a Wii and GameCube emulator is pretty funny, but it also makes a lot of sense. Nintendo is famously extremely protective of its IP and copyright, especially when it comes to things like emulation (and fan games, and fan-organized fighting tournaments, and, well, pretty much anything). Still, it's hard to imagine that anyone is going to use Dolphin to play the rather weak-looking games shown off on the Steam page. We all know what we're here for.

Dolphin will launch on Steam sometime in Q2 2023. You can wishlist it right now. Watch this space for more info about all things Nintendo.

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Joe has been writing for TechRaptor for five years, and in those five years has learned a lot about the gaming industry and its foibles. He’s originally an… More about Joseph