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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|2013}}. It is the first PlayStation console to use the [[wikipedia:x86|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 GB of GDDR5 RAM at 2.75 GHz, while 256MB of DDR3 RAM is used only for background tasks. Emulation of Emulating the PlayStation 4 will prove to be a monumental task owing to the complexity of x86_64 and the Radeon-based GPU. Most projects will inevitably end up going the route of [[Wine]].

| [[fpPS4]]

| [https://github.com/red-prig/fpPS4/actions Artifact buildsreleases/tag/v0.0.1 v0.0.1]

| Obliteration| align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}| [https://github.com/ultimaweapon/obliteration/actions/workflows/main.yml git]| {{✓}}| {{✓}}| {{✗}}|-| [[KytyObliteration]]| align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}| [https://github.com/InoriRusobhq/Kytyobliteration/releases actions git]

| {{na}}<small>(WIP)</small>

| {{~✗}}| {{✗}}|-| [[Kyty]]| align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}| [https://github.com/InoriRus/Kyty/releases git]| {{✓}}| {{✗}}

;fpPS4 <small class="plainlinks" style="font-weight:normal;">([https://github.com/red-prig/fpps4-game-compatibility/issues compatibility])</small>: A PlayStation 4 compatibility layer made with Free Pascal. [https://github.com/red-prig/fpps4-game-compatibility/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3Astatus-playable 68 games are currently playable]. ;[[Spine]] <small class="plainlinks" style="font-weight:normal;">83 ([https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vebgZawcNhdZnGPaSuWrC6wo9OpR1miz/edit#gid=438411959 compatibility]5%)</small>: A compatibility layer that can run 360 games ingame; out of the lot, only 4 1401 tested titles are considered currently playable according to the compatibility list.<ref>[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vebgZawcNhdZnGPaSuWrC6wo9OpR1miz/edit#gid=438411959 Community Maintained Spine Compatibility List] from latest Spine release</ref> In a stark contrast from 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 out of his work,<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/pkc8oe/spine_ps4_emulator_v20210901_released_with/hc3coog/ 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> despite the fact that there is already interest in getting it working through WSLg.<ref>[https://github.com/microsoft/wslg/issues/445#issuecomment-921119545 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!"</ref> 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 a very early release, with lots of unimplemented parts, but it's real. More importantly, we have tested it locally and it works."</ref>

: A private project being worked on by one of the original developers of [[RPCS3]], DH. Little is known about the project at this time, but what we do know is that it's expected to run on Unix-likes, and can boot PS4 games without graphics.<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/pcgaming/comments/cxx5h3/we_are_team_rpcs3_the_playstation_3_emulator_we/eyoqzes/ 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)"</ref> The GitHub repo hasn't been updated since 2016, and it appears to only exist as a placeholder until the project is released. It is still being worked on , although it is in the early stages.<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/ppffdy/rpcs4_ps4_emulation_preview_of_current_progress/ RPCS4 progress update] on Reddit. "DH, RPCS3's founder, has permitted to share this quick progress update of his PlayStation 4 emulator."</ref> ;[[Spine]] <small class="plainlinks" style="font-weight:normal;">([https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vebgZawcNhdZnGPaSuWrC6wo9OpR1miz/edit#gid=438411959 compatibility])</small>: A compatibility layer that can run 360 games. Of the lot, only 4 are considered playable according to the compatibility list.<ref>[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vebgZawcNhdZnGPaSuWrC6wo9OpR1miz/edit#gid=438411959 Community Maintained Spine Compatibility List] from latest Spine release</ref> 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,<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/pkc8oe/spine_ps4_emulator_v20210901_released_with/hc3coog/ 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> despite the fact that there is already interest in getting it working through WSLg.<ref>[https://github.com/microsoft/wslg/issues/445#issuecomment-921119545 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!"</ref> Its authenticity has been 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 a very early release, with lots of unimplemented parts, but it's real. More importantly, we have tested it locally and it works."</ref>

: A compatibility layer for the PlayStation 4. It can show the logos in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nier:_Automata ''Nier: Automata ''] and ran its first commercial games, ''We are Are Doomed'' and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_Mania ''Sonic Mania'' ], in February 2020. It can only run homebrew tests as of June 2022. It appears to be only a side project to test 3D graphics and may or may not become anything serious, but this is unknown as the project's development has halted. As of June 2022, GPCS4 is now a one-man person project.

: A compatibility layer for the PlayStation 4. It's unable to boot any commercial games. Development has stopped , and the project is currently archived on Github. ; Obliteration: A compatibility layer for Windows based on Kyty that's in early development.

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 thistime, 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 perform a preliminary dump of the required files from their PS4 using the [https://phi.nz/orbital/tools/dumper/ Orbital Dumper].

Because most people don't understand how emulation works, scammers try and take advantage of this by making [[Emulator scams|their fake emulatoremulators]] for malicious purposes. The PS4 has seen its fair share of scams, the most notable and persistent of which being '''PCSX4'''. The scheme is very elaborate and clever, with a website designed to mimic [[RPCS3]]'s while using a similar naming scheme as [[PCSX-Reloaded|PCSX]] and [[PCSX2]] (both of which are legitimate). The site makes use of uses aggressive search engine optimization (SEO), meaning it's one of the top results for "PS4 emulator" on Google. Two things invalidate PCSX4's legitimacy:

* It is fairly easy to fake a PS4 (and even [[PlayStation 5|PS5]]) emulator by taking the open-source [https://git.sr.ht/~thestr4ng3r/chiaki Chiaki] Remote Play client, which works by streaming games from a real an actual PS4, and modifying the GUI to display fake hardware usage stats alongside the game. If its claims of running any PS4 game in 4K at 60FPS with little to no issues were true, there would certainly be news articles about it, just like there were for [[Cemu]]. There is a video discussing this fake emulator here: https://youtu.be/5jREO7LnlCw

Taito's 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 from the current status of PS4 emulation, emulation support for this arcade game is very likely the last item on the to-do list.