GameCube and Wii Dolphin Emulator Coming To Steam

Dolphin, a piece of software used for emulating GameCube and Wii games is coming to Steam this year. The company announced this via a blogpost, but did not indicate an exact release date for the emulator on Valve's platform.

You can wishlist Dolphin on Steam ahead of its release, and according to its store page, it's aiming for a Q2 2023 launch window.

"Dolphin Emulator allows these classic games to be reborn into the modern era with support for 4K displays, modern controllers, and much, much more," reads an excerpt from its Steam store page description.

Dolphin will launch for free in early access. Its developer is aiming for the emulator to leave early access by the end of 2023, but it will remain free once the full version releases. The full version will have better Steam UI support to make it easier to navigate, but the emulator will still contain "the full Dolphin experience," while in early access, according to its developer.

Keep in mind, Dolphin does not actually include games, but is simply a tool utilized to play them. The Open Source software allows players to run GameCube and Wii games they've obtained legally. Players will need to convert these games into a compatible format to run them in the Dolphin Emulator.

Older Nintendo games are getting harder to obtain and play, most recently evidenced by the recent closure of the 3DS and Wii U eShops.