After iiSU's viral presentation hit the internet a few days ago, showing off a new way to explore Android emulators in a visually appealing manner, the creator is stepping down amid heat from online trolls.
We really can't have anything nice, can we?
When a project like this gets a lot of attention, there's always a select few who will go snooping for past information in order to shine a negative light on things like this.
And that's what's happened. It seems users have brought to the surface comments from 2023 showing iShade and co-developers making disrespectful comments about race and the LGBTQ+ community.
There are also rumours that the iiSU team have a history of using AI for their projects, but looking further, it seems that AI was only used to create Patreon posts, as the developer leading that does not speak very good English.
With all of this coming to the surface, alongside online trolls putting stress on iShade's family, he has decided to "step away" from the project and hand it over to a co-developer known as Nathan.
I'll be honest, this sucks. The Android emulation scene needs something like this, and the hype was well deserved. None of the comments or creators' opinions on race or sex takes away from the quality of the software, in my opinion, but it is certainly offensive; many have shown that they won't support a project with creators who make comments like this, which is fair enough.
And the use of AI in a project that puts creators and community first is a little contradictory, especially if it's infringing on copyrighted material.
iShade announced their public Discord server this morning, alongside an apology about their comments years ago. He does seem genuinely upset and sorry about the situation, and if you ask me, yes, people change, and so do their opinions. People deserve a second chance; we all make mistakes, so it pains me to hear that many are now making this personal by involving his family.
That's just screwed up, and why, at times, this community can be incredibly toxic. There's a line, and some have crossed it.
With this, it is unclear what will happen to the project. As of now, it's being "handed over," but only time will tell if they can hit the Q4 2026 deadline.
It seems they have removed all videos of iiSU from their public YouTube channel and are holding an "Emergency Q&A" on their Discord Server at 13:00GMT today to "clear things up". Could this be the end of iiSU just days after revealing their presentation?
What came from the emergency Q&A?
I listened to the emergency Q&A featuring three members of the iiSU team, not including the main creator, iShade. Nathan, the new lead developer, has affirmed that he wants to continue development.
They are aware of everything that has happened and apologise for the past comments. He also confirmed that the use of AI was simply to translate Patreon posts into English due to the manager not speaking great English.
So who knows, maybe we will get iiSU, but there's no denying that this puts more stress on the development team here on out.
