PlayStation 4 emulators
| |
| The original PlayStation 4 console with the DualShock 4 controller | |
| Developer | Sony Interactive Entertainment |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Sony Electronics, Foxconn |
| Type | Home video game console |
| Generation | Eighth |
| Release date | NA: November 15, 2013 PAL: November 29, 2013 JP: February 22, 2014 |
| Discontinued | JP: March 28, 2024 |
| Predecessor | PlayStation 3 |
| Successor | PlayStation 5 |
| Emulated | ~ |
- For emulators that run on PlayStation 4, see Emulators on PlayStation 4.
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is an eighth-generation console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment on November 15, 2013, and retailed for $399.99 ($553 in 2026). It is the first PlayStation console to use the x86 architecture, a semi-custom 8-core AMD Jaguar CPU at 1.6 GHz. One of the cores is utilized separately only for low-power background tasks. The CPU shares its place on an APU chip alongside a semi-custom AMD GCN Radeon GPU supported by 8 GBs of GDDR5 RAM at 2.75 GHz, while 256 MBs of DDR3 RAM is used only for background tasks.
An upgraded model, the PlayStation 4 Pro, was released later on, more information in its respective section.
Emulators and compatibility layers
Native
| Name | Active? | Latest version | License | Compatibility | Pro | Recommended? (overall) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PlayStation 5 | ✓ | Patch-based | Proprietary | Overwhelming majority of the 4,000+ PS4 games are playable with only 6 games reported as PS4 only. | ✓ | ✓ |
Comparisons
- shadPS4
- shadPS4 (known in the community as ChadPS4 🗿), an early PS4 compatibility layer written in C++ for Windows, Linux, and macOS, is developed by a respected figure in the gaming scene, George Moralis, one of the founders of PCSX2. The project is the first capable of getting Bloodborne in-game[1], and offers the best game compatibility.
- fpPS4
- A PlayStation 4 compatibility layer made with Free Pascal. Its kernel is getting rewritten in a separate branch, although right now it is unfinished. Currently, it offers the second-best game compatibility, after shadPS4.
- RPCSX
- A Linux-exclusive emulator created by one of the original developers of RPCS3, DH, along RPCS3 current main developers Nekotekina and kd-11. It's in early stages although it can already boot commercial games such as We Are Doomed and Sonic Mania. According to DH, the emulator uses code from RPCS3 and a private project called "RPCS4".[2]
- psOff
- Yet another compatibility layer. Developer solely focused on the rendering part and recently started to implement the system functions to run some binaries. It renders decently fast, the planned changes will make it almost perfect. It currently doesn't support: multiple command buffer submits, for loops in shader, and opcodes. The project is now closed-source as of December 2024.
- Obliteration
- Obliteration is a free PlayStation 4 emulator for Windows, macOS and GNU/Linux. This project started as a hard-fork from Kyty compatibility layer. Then development team decided to rewrite the whole project from scratch by using Kyty and Uplift as a reference to help them getting started with the project. How Obliteration work is totally different from Kyty because developers decided to go with the same path as Uplift (and Spine?) instead of Kyty. This is the reason why Obliteration requires firmware files from the PS4 in order to work while Kyty does not. Promising work has been done on this emulator, however it's unable to boot any commercial games at the moment.
- Orbital
- An open-source low-level emulator based on QEMU by Alexandro Sanchez (AKA 'AlexAltea',
who is also one of the developers of the RPCS3 and Nucleus projects), Orbital uses Intel HAXM to speed up performance. A surprising amount of progress has been made for an emulator of its kind, having to emulate the kernel used by the PS4; It's stuck at the console's Safe Mode.
- psuv
- Znullptr, a widely-known PS4 and PS5 jailbreak/exploit developer and reverse engineer is working on his own PS4 emulator project called PSUV. It no longer seems to be developed.
- Kyty
- A compatibility layer for the PS4 and PS5 made by InoriRus, the creator of Short Waves. It's in the early stages of development. It can boot commercial games such as Blackhole, Worms W.M.D, and some PS5 homebrews with 0.2.0. It's notable for being the first-ever PlayStation 4 emulator with a GUI, and like GPCS4, the emulator is Windows-exclusive.
- GPCS4
- A compatibility layer for the PlayStation 4.[3] It can show the logos in Nier: Automata and ran its first commercial games, We Are Doomed and Sonic Mania, in February 2020. It can only run homebrew tests as of June 2022. Furthermore, it appears to be only a side project to test 3D graphics and may or may not become anything serious, but this is now unknown as the project's development has halted.
- Prosperity
- Prosperity, originally launched as PS4Delta in 2019, is a PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 emulator for Linux and Android. Windows support is planned for a later release. On AMD64 hosts, the CPU runs without emulation. On ARM hosts, FEX is used to execute the CPU code. The GPU is fully emulated, with graphics code recompiled to SPIR-V. Graphics output is handled through Vulkan and SDL3.
- Spine
- In stark contrast to other closed-source emulators, Spine is Linux-exclusive; the creator has opted not to release the source code out of caution for a Windows-exclusive variant emerging from his work,[4] despite the fact that there is already interest in getting it working through WSLg.[5] Its authenticity has been verified by lead Orbital developer AlexAltea.[6] It was truly a promising emulator project, even though it was abandoned in its early days.
- Native
-
- PlayStation 5
- The PlayStation 5 boasts extensive backwards compatibility with a vast library of PlayStation 4 titles. This functionality allows users to play the overwhelming majority of physical PS4 discs and digital games downloaded through the PlayStation Store directly on their PS5 console. Additionally, some PS4 games may benefit from enhancements on the PS5 hardware (similarly to PlayStation 4 Pro) if it supports "Game Boost" option, such as experiencing higher or more stable frame rates.
Enhancements
| Name | shadPS4 | |
|---|---|---|
| Controls | Disguise peripheral support through passthrough
Tricking the software into think that the original controller was connected even those identify themselves with different device IDs. When a game tries to identify a connected 'nearly the same internally' controller, emulator will tell it that the equivalent original controller is connected instead, allowing it to work. |
? |
| Input lag mitigating | ✗ | |
| Mouse injector | ~[7] | |
| Real peripheral support (passthrough)
Ability to passthrough USB HID devices or Bluetooth adapter for emulated system. |
? | |
| Turbo button | ? | |
| Graphics | Pre-rendering anti-aliasing (SSAA, MSAA) |
✗ |
| Ray tracing (DXR, VRT and MRT) |
Implementing ray tracing in an emulator is unfortunately quite challenging and unlikely to be feasible in the near future.
However you can try "Screen-Space Ray Traced Global Illumination" shader using ReShade. | |
| Resizable internal resolution | ~ | |
| RTX Remix | Implementing RTX Remix technology in an emulator is unfortunately quite challenging and unlikely to be feasible in the near future. | |
| Super-resolution techniques | FSR 2 is already supported on PlayStation 4 (Pro).
Implementing advanced one for emulator is requires access to the depth buffer and temporal data like motion-vectors so it's quite challenging and unlikely to be feasible in the near future. | |
| Texture replacement | ✗ | |
| Ultra-widescreen hack
Widescreen already supported on PlayStation 4 system. But there is no support by system for render games in other ratios such as ultrawide 21:9 or super ultrawide 32:9. |
~ | |
| Performance | Frame generation technologies | Implementing frame generation technology in an emulator is unfortunately quite challenging and unlikely to be feasible in the near future, however post-processing techniques such as motion interpolation is quite possible. Input latency will be a crucial factor, but its impact likely varies depending on the specific technique employed, it's recommended to use after applying the "Internal Framerate Hack"..
While AFMF or |
| Internal frame rate hack | ✓ | |
| Overclock | ✗ | |
| Rendering latency reduction technologies
(LatencyFleX, Reflex, |
While most emulators offer frame pacing or framebuffer latency control options, implementing rendering latency reduction technologies isn't currently feasible. This is likely doesn't offer enough benefit to justify the development effort. | |
| Post-processing | AI-powered filter (Freestyle) |
? |
| Filters | ✗ | |
| Inverse tone mapping compatible | PlayStation 4 (Pro) system already supports HDR in some games. | |
| Post-rendering anti-aliasing
(FXAA, TXAA and MLAA/SMAA) |
✗ | |
| Post-rendering scaling
(Sharp bilinear, Lanczos and FSR 1) |
✓ | |
| Shader chain | ✗ | |
| Quality of life | Automatic emulated controller connect/disconnect
Automatically connects or disconnects emulated controllers when a new or current controller is connected or disconnected. |
✗ |
| Automatic updater | ✓ | |
| Big Picture Mode | WIP | |
| Built-in cheat manager | ✓ | |
| Built-in custom resolution/CRTSwitchRes
For using this on Windows OS you need CRT Emudriver. Another option is using EDID editor tool such as "Custom Resolution Utility". |
N/A
Eighth gen home consoles and beyond only have digital video output anyway. | |
| Built-in mod editor and manager | ✗ | |
| Built-in patch manager | ✓ | |
| Built-in save manager | ✗ | |
| Command-line options | ✓ | |
| Pause/Resume emulation | ✗ | |
| Per-game profiles | ✓ | |
| Portable and stealth
Useful enhancement feature for non-personal computer use or plug-and-play scenarios. However, the software may still require the necessary prerequisites and dependencies for your operating system if it is not statically linked. |
✓ | |
| SDL backend support
Provides controller plug-and-play and automatic input mapping through SDL GameController database. |
? | |
| Streamable compression format | ✗ | |
| TAS features | Fast forward/Turbo speed | ✗ |
| Macros/Scripts/Lua | ✗ | |
| Movie recording/playback | ✗ | |
| Rewind | ✗ | |
| Save states | ✗ | |
| Misc. | Ambient sounds simulation
Simulation of audio from original hardware and environments, such as mechanical hard drive, floppy diskette, and optical drive noises (e.g., head seeks, spin-up/down, tray loading, disc spinning, and clicking), variable CRT flyback transformer whine (the classic high-pitched "coil whine" that dynamically changes pitch based on screen brightness and content), arcade cabinet effects (e.g., fan hum or button rattles), and other background ambient noises. |
✗ |
| Debug features | ~ | |
| EmuVR support | Exclusive to libretro cores. So there is no support at the moment. | |
| Free Look
Free Look is a enhancement feature that allows manipulation of the in-game camera. |
While freecam would be technically possible, it will require per-game patches.
Said patches would require a significant amount of time to reverse the game's engine, which means that only someone talented with enough dedication to a single game could do it. | |
| RetroAchievements | ✗ | |
| Rich Presence (RPC)
Allows the emulator to share real-time game session details (e.g., current game title, level, boss, playtime, or custom status) with external applications. This enables features such as displaying what you're playing on your profile, inviting friends to spectate, or triggering join-in-progress functionality where supported. |
? | |
| Screen translator
Using optical character recognition (OCR) and other techniques, this feature can provide live translation of in-game text, text-to-speech for visually impaired users, and more — either on demand or automatically. |
You can use RetroArch's AI Service or the standalone offline bquenin's Interpreter. | |
Hardware features and peripherals
| Name | shadPS4 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardware features | Backwards compatibility | PlayStation 2 emulation (incl. PS2 Classics) | ✗ |
| PlayStation emulation (incl. PSOne Classics) | ✗ | ||
| PlayStation Portable emulation for Digital PSP titles | ✗ | ||
| Blu-ray drive | ✗ | ||
| Connectivity | Ethernet | WIP | |
| Wi-Fi | |||
| PlayStation Network
(incl. PlayStation Now) | |||
| Controller | Mono speaker | ✓[8] | |
| Motion sensor | ✓ | ||
| Touchpad gestures | ✓[9] | ||
| Vibration | ? | ||
| HDR | ✓[10] | ||
| PlayStation 4 Pro-enhanced games | ~ | ||
| System software | PlayStation Dynamic Menu and apps | ✗ | |
| Trophies | ✓[11] | ||
| Peripherals | PlayLink | ✗ | |
| PlayStation Camera | ✗ | ||
| PlayStation Move | WIP | ||
| PlayStation Vita connectivity | ✗ | ||
| PlayStation VR | ✗ | ||
| Toys-to-life | Disney Infinity Base | ~ | |
| LEGO Dimensions Toy Pad | ~ | ||
| Skylanders Portal of Power | ~ | ||
| Starlink: Battle for Atlas toys-to-life elements | ✗ | ||
| USB | Headset | ✓ | |
| Keyboard | ? | ||
| Mouse | ✓ | ||
| Steering wheel | ✗ | ||
| Misc. | Haptic feedback[12] | ? | |
PlayStation Dynamic Menu and apps
PlayStation Dynamic Menu is a graphical user interface developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. You can launch various applications from this interface as well.
- No emulator fully supports this at the moment. There's a report on the RPCSX Discord channel that the VSH boots and gets up to the Sony Interactive Entertainment logo with sound. It doesn't get past it due to races and internal GPU issues. ChonkyStation4 can also boot the VSH, albeit not responding to controller input.
- Like PPSSPP's half-baked solution, ShadPS4 and psOff can replicates the Dynamic Menu's functionality by displaying the game's background image and playing its title music in it's interface when it's selected in the game list.
Trophies
Trophies are PlayStation Network awards presented to players for completing specific tasks in a game. The feature is present in most PlayStation 3 games, and all PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 games. Trophies shouldn't be confused with RetroAchievements.
- ShadPS4 supports trophies and custom icons with sound notifications. See Emulator files#PlayStation 4.
LAN Tunneling
- PlayStation 5 placeholder text
- Also see computer programs such as XBSlink, SVDL and XLink Kai allow users to play multiplayer for LAN supported games by using a network configuration that simulates a worldwide LAN.
Blu-ray drive
PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 consoles supports BD-Video and DVD-Video. However, it does not have the capability to play VCDs or UHD-BD, additionally, the VCD format is not supported by the consoles system software.
Sony discontinued all manufacturing of physical media games for PlayStation 4 (as well PlayStation 5) in January 2028. Physical disc production ending in January 2028 for new games releasing on PlayStation consoles – PlayStation.Blog
- See this dedicated page for more information about home media playback support for emulation softwares.
- See Ripping games.
- See Disc Drive emulation.
- Also see psdevwiki: multimedia support
PlayStation 4 Pro
The PlayStation 4 Pro (codenamed Neo, model number CUH-7000) console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment on November 10, 2016, and retailed for $399.99 ($537 in 2026). It is an upgraded version of the PlayStation 4 with improved hardware to enable 4K rendering and improved PlayStation VR performance, including an upgraded GPU with 4.198 teraflops of processing power and hardware support for checkerboard rendering, and a higher CPU clock. As with PS4 "Slim", this model also features support for USB 3.1, Bluetooth 4.0 and 5.0 GHz Wi-Fi. The PS4 Pro also includes 1 GB of DDR3 memory that is used to swap out non-gaming applications that run in the background, allowing games to utilize an additional 512 MB of the console's GDDR5 memory. Although capable of streaming 4K video, the PS4 Pro does not support Ultra HD Blu-ray.
PS4 Pro-exclusive features
PS4 Pro-enhanced games
Games marketed by Sony as PS4 Pro Enhanced have specific optimizations when played on this model, such as 4K resolution graphics and/or higher performance. For games not specifically optimized, an option known as "Boost Mode" was added on system software 4.5, which can be enabled to force higher CPU and GPU clock rates on existing games to possibly improve performance.
Rendering games at 4K resolution is achieved through various rendering techniques and hardware features; PlayStation technical chief Mark Cerny explained that Sony could not "brute force" 4K without compromising form factor and cost, so the console was designed to support "streamlined rendering techniques" using custom hardware, "best-in-breed temporal and spatial anti-aliasing algorithms", and "many new features from the AMD Polaris architecture as well as several even beyond it". The most prominent technique used is checkerboard rendering, wherein the console only renders portions of a scene using a checkerboard pattern, and then uses algorithms to fill in the non-rendered segments. The checkerboarded screen can then be smoothed using an anti-aliasing filter. Hermen Hulst of Guerrilla Games incorrectly claimed that the PS4 Pro could render something "perceptively so close [to 4K] that you wouldn't be able to see the difference". In reality, there are significant, noticeable differences between the visual quality of checkerboarded 4K, upscaled 4K, and native 4K. See here and here.
Dissidia Final Fantasy Arcade variant
Dissidia Final Fantasy Arcade is the only arcade game that runs on PS4-based hardware. This game runs on a PS4 kiosk demo unit, and the hardware is identical to regular retail PS4 and could be converted to regular retail mode. An extra I/O board is attached to the PS4 via a USB port.
Despite the fact that the arcade game program itself could run on a regular PS4 without any issue, the USB I/O board is yet to be reverse-engineered, and judging by the current status of PS4 emulation, emulation support for this arcade game is very likely the last item on the to-do list.
See Copy protection#Hardware-based protection.
Notes
References
- ↑ Even more Bloodborne progress
- ↑ RPCS4 was a private project being worked on by one of the original developers of RPCS3, DH. Little is known about the project at the time, but we do know that it was expected to run on Unix-likes and can boot PS4 games without graphics. DH on Reddit: "If you have Unix-like OS, I can send you binary and you will able to run any game for PS4 and see many different errors for each (without graphics of course)". It is unknown whether is still being worked on or not, although it was in the early stages in the time. RPCS4 progress update on Reddit. "DH, RPCS3's founder, has permitted to share this quick progress update of his PlayStation 4 emulator." As we mentioned in PCSX4 & fake emulators section, there are numerous deceptive projects out there bearing the same name, so it's important not to confuse with it.
- ↑ GitHub issue #104 comment
- ↑ devofspine on Reddit. "I wouldn't mind open-sourcing it at some point in time, but there are several things that stop me from doing this in the near future: a) there are some parts in the code that are a mess and I wouldn't feel comfortable releasing them for public consumption, b) I enjoy the freedom to develop it in the way I want to, c) I would be a bit afraid of losing control, open source brings with it a risk of forks for example and I wouldn't like to see my work used to do for example a Windows exclusive variant, and d) PS4 is still a current-gen console." (Edited)
- ↑ Spine PlayStation 4 emulator does not work in WSLg with GPU enabled issue at the WSLg repository (#445). GitHub. "no need to close the issue, we will use this to track the GPU acceleration issue. Unfortunately, I don't have access to PlayStation firmware and thus am not able to repro, but we will see what we can do to investigate this, thanks!"
- ↑ AlexAltea on Reddit. "I've analyzed the Spine demo in IDA Pro (reverse-engineering tool), and everything checks out. It's a very early release, with lots of unimplemented parts, but it's real. More importantly, we have tested it locally and it works."
- ↑ See here, here, and here.
- ↑ https://github.com/shadps4-emu/shadPS4/releases/tag/v.0.11.0
https://github.com/shadps4-emu/shadPS4/issues/3053 - ↑ https://github.com/shadps4-emu/shadPS4/pull/1257
https://github.com/shadps4-emu/shadPS4/pull/3842 - ↑ https://github.com/shadps4-emu/shadPS4/commit/e803e7c49dbfdc1a430604148c486f1ffa84c040
https://github.com/shadps4-emu/shadPS4/pull/2381 - ↑ https://github.com/shadps4-emu/shadPS4/pull/854
https://github.com/shadps4-emu/shadPS4/pull/2566 - ↑ https://github.com/Ryochan7/DS4Windows/issues/3212
