Citra Emulator: Why It Shut Down and What Replaced It

Our own screenshot of the official Azahar site, taken November 13, 2026. The menu links to the download page, GitHub and the Citra website archive.

What happened to Citra

Citra started in April 2014. It was named after CTR, the model code of the original 3DS, and was released under the GPL-2.0-or-later licence [1]. The same core team later built Yuzu, a Switch emulator [1].

In March 2024 Nintendo and Tropic Haze, the company behind Yuzu, settled Nintendo's lawsuit. Tropic Haze agreed to pay $2,400,000 and to stop working on Yuzu [2]. The developers then posted: "We write today to inform you that yuzu and yuzu's support of Citra are being discontinued, effective immediately." On March 4, 2024 the source code of both emulators was pulled from GitHub, and their websites were replaced with that message [2].

Old Citra builds still exist on the internet. They get no fixes, and there is no official place to get them any more.

Azahar, the project that carries Citra on

After the shutdown, several groups kept copies of the code going. In late 2024 two of them, Lime3DS and a fork kept by a former Citra developer, merged into one project named Azahar, after the Spanish word for orange blossom. The first public releases came in early 2025 [1].

The Azahar site describes it as "a free and open-source high level Nintendo 3DS emulator for PC and mobile devices" that "continues the legacy of Citra" [3]. It is not affiliated with Nintendo, and says so on its home page [3]. One change from Citra matters if you used it before: Azahar removed support for encrypted game files [1].

Where to get Azahar safely

Get it from azahar-emu.org or from its GitHub page, github.com/azahar-emu/azahar [3][4]. On November 13, 2026 the download page offered version 2126.2 [5]:

Last checked November 13, 2026: the Azahar download page and FAQ.

The minimum the project lists [4]:

• PC: Windows 10 (64-bit), macOS 13.4 (Ventura), or a modern 64-bit Linux; an x86-64 or ARM64 processor with single-core performance above 1,800 on Passmark (SSE4.2 needed on x86-64; Windows on ARM is not supported); a graphics card with OpenGL 4.3 or Vulkan 1.1; 2 GB of RAM, 4 GB recommended.
• Android: Android 10 or later (64-bit); a Snapdragon 835 or better; OpenGL ES 3.2 or Vulkan 1.1; 2 GB of RAM, 4 GB recommended.

If the Windows MSVC build shows the error "MSVCP140_ATOMIC_WAIT.dll not found", install Microsoft's Visual C++ Redistributable, as the Azahar FAQ says [6].

Which "Citra" downloads to avoid

Search results for "citra emulator" still show sites and phone apps with the Citra name. The original team stopped work on Citra in 2024 [2], so none of these is a release from that team. The Azahar site links an archive of the old Citra website in its menu [3].

3D on a 3D screen

The 3DS drew a separate picture for each eye, so many games carry real stereo 3D. Its RetroArch core can send that 3D out in several forms; the libretro documentation lists these Stereo 3D modes [7]:

• Side by Side: both eyes in one frame, each at half width.
• Side by Side (Full): both eyes at full width.
• Anaglyph (Red/Cyan): for red-cyan glasses.
• Interlaced and Reverse Interlaced: for interlaced 3D displays.
• Cardboard VR: side by side, corrected for Cardboard-style viewers.

A depth setting from 0% to 100% sets how strong the effect is [7].

Red-cyan glasses use the Anaglyph mode, an interlaced 3D display uses Interlaced or Reverse Interlaced, and a Cardboard-style phone viewer uses Cardboard VR [7].

Photos from a 3DS camera are saved as MPO files. Our Stereo Photo Maker opens them in a browser and saves side-by-side or red-cyan versions.

Frequently asked questions

Is Citra still being developed?

No. Its developers stopped it on March 4, 2024, after the Yuzu settlement with Nintendo [2]. Azahar is the continuation [1][3].

Is Azahar the same as Citra?

It is built from Citra's code, through two forks that merged in late 2024 [1]. It has a new name, a new team and changes of its own, such as no support for encrypted game files [1].

Is citra-emulator.com the official Citra site?

No. The original Citra team shut down in 2024 [2]. The Azahar site, azahar-emu.org, links an archive of the old Citra website in its menu [3].

Is Azahar on the Google Play Store?

Yes. The Azahar home page links its own Google Play listing [3]. Play Store apps named "Citra" are not from the original Citra team, which stopped in 2024 [2].

Can Azahar run on iPhone?

There is no Azahar app for iPhone or iPad, and the FAQ says iOS support is "not planned for the foreseeable future" [6]. Libretro cores for RetroArch support iOS and tvOS [3].