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|type = [[:Category:ConsolesHome consoles|Home video game console]]|generation = [[:Category:Eighth-generation_video_game_consolesgeneration video game consoles|Eighth generation]]

The '''PlayStation 4''' (PS4) is an eighth-generation console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment on November 15, 2013 and retailed for ${{Inflation|USD|399.99 ($432.54 in 2018 money)|2013}}. It has a semi-custom 8-core AMD x86-64 Jaguar CPU at 1.6 GHz, whereas one of the cores is utilised separately only for low-power, background tasks. The CPU is shared on an APU chip with a semi-custom AMD GCN Radeon GPU. They are supported by 8 GB of GDDR5 RAM at 2.75 GHz, while 256 MB of DDR3 RAM is used only for background tasks. Notably, it is the first PlayStation console to use the [[wikipedia:x86|x86]] architecture, making it easier to program for than the [[PlayStation 3 emulators|PlayStation 3]] while also having the same architecture as PCs.

! scope="col"|Operating SystemPlatform(s)

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows, |Linux}}

|{{✓}}|{{✗}}|-|GPCS4|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}|[https://github.com/Inori/GPCS4 Git]|{{✓}}|{{✗}}|{{✗}}|-|PS4Delta|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}|[https://github.com/Force67/ps4delta Git]|{{✓}}|{{✗}} |{{✗}} |-|RPCS4|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}|[https://github.com/RPCS4/rpcs4 Git]|{{✗}}|{{✗}}|{{✗}}|-|} ===Comparisons===;Spine:A high level emulator that's expected to run fifty games,<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCJsV6ez0LQ spine - Still Alive] on YouTube.</ref> after the publicly released demo was the first to go in-game on two titles. In a stark contrast from other closed source emulators, Spine is Linux-exclusive;<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/byohyx/spinedemo_20190609/eqoruje devofspine] on Reddit. "No source code at the moment though I plan to make it open source at some point."</ref> the creator has opted not to release the source code out of caution.<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/bwz7we/spine_ps4_emulator_another_fake_more_info_in/eqakwsz/ 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)</ref> It uses a [[Wine]]-like approach, and its authenticity was verified by lead Orbital developer AlexAltea.<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/bz4ikp/orbital_a_playstation_4_emulator_that_is/eqq6lxt/ AlexAltea] on Reddit. "I've analyzed the Spine demo in IDA Pro (reverse engineering tool), and everything checks out. It's obviously a very early release, lots of unimplemented parts, but it's real. More importantly, we have tested it locally and it works." Spine is still in active development and as of 2021, the developer claims that Spine is able to launch around 181 games, and around 30 are playable.</ref> (https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/422097916920987661/841676948257112104/unknown.png) ;[[Orbital]]:An open-source low-level emulator based on [[QEMU]], Orbital uses existing hypervisors like 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 currently stuck at the console's Safe Mode<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBBHisNM74o</ref> and, thus, can't boot any games yet. ;GPCS4:A compatibility layer for the PlayStation 4. Currently, it can show the logos in Nier: Automata and ran its first commercial game called ''We are Doomed'' in February 2020. Appears to be only a side project to test 3D graphics and may or may not become anything serious. Reasons to follow this project are the growing pool of contributors; and that it works on Windows, unlike Spine. The project shows no signs of development for at least a year, and no real progress has occurred thus far, unfortunately. ;PS4Delta:A compatibility layer for the PlayStation 4. It's currently unable to boot any commercial games. Development has stopped and the project is currently archived on Github. ;RPCS4:RPCS4 is a private project being worked on by one of the original developers of [[RPCS3]], DH. Work is being done in private, so there is little public information about it. Accordingly to DH, it currently runs on unix-like OS, and is able to run PS4 games (without graphics) and display errors. <ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/pcgaming/comments/cxx5h3/we_are_team_rpcs3_the_playstation_3_emulator_we/eyoqzes/</ref> The Github page hasn't been updated and appears to only be there as a placeholder until an actual release (if ever releases). ==Overview=====Potential Roadblocks=== Due to the PS4's x86 architecture and FreeBSD-based operating system, emulators for the device will by and large be very unconventional. Despite the x86's instruction set being '''huge'''<ref>{{cite web | url= https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/x86_instruction_listings | title= x86 instruction listings | Wikipedia}}</ref>, a trait that would typically lead to years of development time by emulators, it opens the ability for pre-existing hypervisors to do the heavy lifting, eliminating the need for a recompiler. There is also, as of writing this, little to no documentation on the GPU (a modified Radeon 7970M with disabled stream processors) used in the PS4's APU, and it will require a complete re-implementation by emulator developers. End-users may wish to preform a preliminary dump of the required files from their PS4 using the [https://phi.nz/orbital/tools/dumper/ Orbital Dumper]. ===PCSX4 & Fake Emulators===Because most people don't understand how emulation really works, people try and take advantage by making [[Emulator scams|their own fake emulator]] for malicious purposes. The PS4 has been the subject of a lot of these scams mainly since it was the "newest" console at the time, the most notable one however was one called '''PCSX4'''. It's a really clever cover up, the name is similar to "PCSX" and "PCSX2" (both of which are well-known PlayStation emulators) and has a nice looking website similar to other recent emulation projects with the same elements. What makes it worse is it's one of the first results on Google when searching for "PS4 emulator". If there was really an emulator this early that could play PS4 games in 4K resolution at 60 FPS with little to no issues it would have made a ''huge'' deal. It's also important to remember that the PS4 supports remote play for PC and mobile so it's ''very'' easy to fake a recording and claim it's an "emulator" running it.

[[Category:Eighth-generation_video_game_consolesgeneration video game consoles]][[Category:PlayStation 4 emulators|*]]