Discontinued
Is Citron Emulator Dead? Why It Stopped in February 2026 and Why Citron Neo Took Over
Shut down in February 2026 over internal disputes; continued by Citron Neo
- Latest
- 2026.02.1 · 2026-02-01
- Based on
- yuzu
- Team
- Zephyron
- License
- GPL-3.0
- Started
- 2024-10
- Ended
- 2026-02
Key points
- The original Citron is gone: on 2026-02-16 its website, GitHub, GitLab, self-hosted git and Discord all disappeared.
- The cause was internal conflict and leaked personal details of a developer. The official subreddit's moderators said Nintendo was not behind it.
- The final build is 2026.02.1 Pathfinder (2026-02-01). Old builds will get no more fixes or support for new games.
- Citron Neo took over in March 2026 and is still shipping nightlies as of October 2026.
- Claims that Citron still shipped Android builds in October refer to Citron Neo. Any official Citron download site still circulating is third-party.
The original Citron is dead. On February 16, 2026, Citron's website, GitHub, GitLab, self-hosted git server and Discord all went offline, and development stopped. Nintendo wasn't the cause: internal team conflict and a developer's leaked personal details were. As of October 2026 the line continues as Citron Neo, and for everyday use Eden is the stronger pick.
Where Citron came from
Citron is a fork of yuzu led by Zephyron. According to Emulation General Wiki:
- It was called uzuy until October 2024, then renamed Citron.
- Nightly builds started in November 2024. A failed server migration took the site down, and Citron returned with a Canary pre-release in January 2025.
- While Sudachi slowed down and Torzu went quiet, Citron was one of the most active yuzu forks.
- The team split in 2025 over disagreements such as whether to add DRM and telemetry to fight misuse. Some developers left and started Eden in May 2025.
Citron kept shipping: 0.7.0 (2025-09-06) was billed as a rewrite and added FSR 2; 0.10.0 (2025-11-02) was, per GBAtemp, a joint effort with Ryujinx and Eden developers; then 0.12.25 (2025-12-26); and finally 2026.02.1 "Pathfinder" (2026-02-01). It ran on Windows (including ARM), Linux, Android (with a Snapdragon 8 Elite build) and macOS.
Why it stopped (February 2026)
The timeline was short:
- 2026-02-12: Nintendo sent GitHub a DMCA notice naming 13 emulators, Citron among them. Citron's code was mostly hosted elsewhere, so it stayed available.
- 2026-02-16: Citron's website, GitHub, GitLab and Discord vanished. Many assumed Nintendo had finally taken it down.
- Then came the explanation via the official subreddit: "inner conflicts with the developer team." Someone had released a file archive containing Zephyron's personal details, along with material about a dispute with the Eden side from a year earlier, and the old conflict flared up again.
RetroHandhelds summed it up in its headline: Citron is gone, but it's not Nintendo's fault. Before it ended, Citron had teased GameBanana mod support and an iOS screenshot. Neither shipped.
As of October 2026 the old website shows a blank page and the self-hosted git server is offline.
Common confusion: was Citron still updating in October?
Some sites claim Citron was still releasing Android nightlies in October 2026. Those were Citron Neo nightlies, not original Citron builds. The original's last release is the February 2026 Pathfinder build.
Citron Neo, the successor
Citron Neo appeared in March 2026 as a continuation of Citron:
- Vulkan only; no OpenGL requirement.
- A new CPU backend, Dynarmic-GPLv3, aimed at better CPU performance and lower latency.
- Stable builds up to 2026-04-27 and nightlies up to 2026-10-26 for Windows, Linux, macOS and Android.
- Developed by the Citron Neo Team. Whether it has any connection to Zephyron has not been disclosed.
Beware of "official Citron download" sites
The original site is gone, but plenty of "official Citron download" sites still circulate. Sites like uzuy.org have nothing to do with the original project. They are third-party, and you can't verify where their installers came from or whether they were modified. Citron Neo's official site is citron-neo.org, listed in the info box on the Citron Neo page. See how to spot fake emulator sites.
What to use now
| Your situation | Pick |
|---|---|
| PC or Android, want the most active project and best compatibility | Eden |
| You like Citron's settings and style | Citron Neo |
| Mac | Ryubing, Astris |
| iPhone / iPad | MeloNX |
For a head-to-head, see Eden vs Citron Neo vs Ryubing. For keys and firmware, see keys and firmware explained.
FAQ
Does Citron still work?
An old build you already installed will still open, but the original project stopped on 2026-02-16. It won't get bug fixes or support for new games and firmware. To stay on the Citron line, switch to Citron Neo.
Did Nintendo shut down Citron?
No. Nintendo's 2026-02-12 DMCA notice did name Citron, but the project disappeared on its own four days later. The official subreddit's moderators blamed internal conflict and a developer's personal details being leaked.
Are Citron and Citron Neo the same?
No. Citron Neo is a successor that appeared in March 2026 after the original stopped. It is made by the Citron Neo Team and is Vulkan-only. Whether it has any link to the original developer, Zephyron, has not been disclosed.
Is there a Citron iOS version?
No. The original Citron teased an iOS screenshot before it stopped but never released it. Citron Neo's site says iOS pull requests are welcome, meaning there is none yet.
What should I use instead of Citron?
Eden on PC and Android, or Citron Neo if you prefer Citron's style. Both come from yuzu, like Citron.