202511252345
Status: idea
Tags: emulation
iiSU
iiSU is an emulation launcher that took the internet by storm when the trailer dropped at the 25th of September 2025. iiSU was developed by iShade but was moved over to Nathan after controversy. But a lot of people quickly doubted the project because it looked like it was only mock-ups without any code.
On the 25th of November 2025 they did a full presentation about their product, their plans etc.
Whether or not this android emulation launcher will see the light of day is yet to be seen, but it looks really great and I am certainly hoping for it. You can follow their youtube channel for updates.
The death?
On November 29th there was an announcement: UsagiShade has stopped development on iiSU. There is a summary video here. But that is not the end of the iiSU story as you can read about it in this twitter post a little bit later. It contains 4 screenshots that i turned into text in the callout below:
Converted the images to text
Posted at 3:53 PM
@everyone TLDR at the bottom Hello everybody! Sorry about the ping, but this will be the last one until the alpha. Reactions are turned off for space. This is Nathan, who will be taking the leadership role in this project from here on out. I wanted to make the final statement before we can hopefully recenter iiSU and its community.
1. UsagiShade’s Departure
The first thing I want to make clear, is that UsagiShade is no longer a part of this project. Regardless of the thoughts this brings, the negativity and hate funneled through his involvement with the project was unacceptable, and while we sincerely cherish the initial vision he brought, as well as his unique presentation skills and philosophy, he personally made the decision to step down from the project. As his co-founder, it really has saddened me to see both the explosion of negativity brought about due to him, as well as the escalation that ensued bringing about doxing, raids, and more heinous online activity pointed to usagi and the team.
It’s VERY important to note that the current team has no affiliation with any of the comments or person(s) that were originally in the server before. Us, just like you, arrived after the fact, and we’re making this abundantly clear, as I want to make sure moving forward that my team is mentally well after what has occurred and we’re able to move back into rhythm and continue working with the same dedication as we were before.
2. Project Status
With this being understood, I want to be absolutely clear about one thing: The iiSU Project is alive and strong. We have all the assets, a strong team, and an amazing core community that is still looking forward to this project. While Usagi has been the figurehead, a large portion of the designs and their philosophy have been either entirely developed or driven by other team members, including me, @JD Brance, and others (this includes the new logo, the “Mizu UI” glassmorphic components, online/channel tabs, and more). I can promise that not a spec of what’s been shown will be fundamentally altered. Presentations will continue on the official @iisu.network YouTube channel, with visual fidelity maintained by me and our graphic artists.
3. Project Scope Adjustments
I truly appreciate the genuine criticism we’ve seen on other platforms. There have been serious concerns raised about project scope, security, ethics, viability, and more. I have taken my time to seriously consider even the most cynical views of what we’re building. We will be rolling back our scoped aim for v1.0, focusing on polishing the core frontend experience to make it an application that people simply like using. We have already built the app to a usable state in the coming alpha, and will work on refining its experience. We will continue database development and have a focus on friend connection/status, but will set back our efforts for the global-scale social network system until we feel absolutely confidently that we can do it right. The Shopii system is still a goal, though we are still nailing down every aspect of monetization to make this sustainable and fair. Every single piece that you’ve seen in the presentations is in the plan, but we will be drafting up a more detailed project timeline and plan in the coming days which will be published on our website https://iisu.network/ (a landing page is our top priority as of now to reduce reliance on discord).
4. Community Standards and Moderation
As a final note on issues of moderation and behavior seen surrounding iiSU, I want to issue one final sincere apology to anyone affected. We want to be clear that we do not want to be affiliated with anyone that agrees or supports some of the hateful content shown from old people who messaged Usagi, or from any negative influence that Usagi himself caused. I want to be very careful with how we manage this community from here on out, and feel much safer now with a solid and active mod team. We’ll be adjusting the rules to be more firm. No one should ever suffer from bullying and transphobia or any other aggression in any space they wish to be in.
Regarding Donations
Automatic refunds are currently underway to everyone who donated through the Ko-Fi. This was a decision by Usagi, who controls the account, and it’s fair to do as he feels he hasn’t delivered what he originally came to do. Supporter roles will be maintained until we can confirm that everyone has received their refunds. We appreciate everyone’s love and support, and are very sorry about the conflicts that have arisen. We personally don’t feel in the right position to be accepting funds for development, as we want to make it extremely clear that this is a passion project above all else. Funds still help get our developers rewarded for their hard work, and it is a great way to procure a dedicated group of people who share our ideals, so we will consider opening up a new Ko-Fi or method of support in the near future for the many who have reached out and said that they’d love to still support our goals.
With this growing into more of a community project than ever, I am more open to an open-source approach to at least some of our core components, such as the amazing Dual-Screen tech that our lead developer has built. We will be open to discuss this with the community in the near future.
I am extremely proud of the team that I’ve formed around me and what we’ve been able to accomplish so far. These people are incredibly capable and talented, and I couldn’t be pursuing this without them. The current team has been the real back-bone of the project. They call me out when I misstep, and I hope to continue receiving their support. Words can only say so much, and I wish to prove our mission by releasing real developments with actual functionality.
ps: Thank you so much to everyone who has privately reached out to me during this whole ordeal for support. I’ve appreciated every positive message that I’ve received, and I can only hope that I can live up to your expectations.
TLDR
UsagiShade is no longer connected to the project, but the project is continuing in full swing. The assets are maintained, the design style will be completely intact, and our team is talented enough to continue its visual development. Presentation will continue on @iisu.network on YouTube. I appreciate the constructive criticism we’ve received, and we’ll be dialing in project scope to focus on the core frontend experience and essential friend-based social features, before we go further. More details on development will be on https://iisu.network/ in the near future. I apologize for the people affected in the controversies, and we will not tolerate any more hate in this community. All donations are being automatically refunded.
But it died right? well no, the same guy who made the mentioned video above made this video 1 day later. on November 30th 2025. He summarizes the situation, and i am going to do that too:
The iiSU project is continuing forward under new leadership with Nathan taking over from UsagiShade. While the departure addresses serious concerns about negativity and harassment within the community, the core project remains intact; all assets, designs, and visual direction are being preserved. The team is refocusing on delivering a polished, usable core product by scaling back the initial scope of v1.0 to prioritize the frontend experience and essential social features like friend connections, rather than pursuing the full global-scale social network immediately. This represents a more measured approach based on community feedback, with detailed development plans coming soon. The project is alive but now operating under stricter moderation standards and with a commitment to eliminating hate from the community.
References
i saw this video about the death
i saw this video about the revival