Changes

|version = {{RPCS3VerVersion|RPCS3}}<ref group=N name=version>The developers are currently treating version increments as milestones, not as stable builds.</ref>

|platform = [[Emulators on Windows, |Windows]]<br/>[[Emulators on Linux|Linux, BSD]]<br/>FreeBSD<br/>[[Emulators on macOS|macOS]]

'''RPCS3''' is a very promising an open-source, multi-platform [[PlayStation 3 emulators|PlayStation 3 (PS3)]] emulator/debugger written in C++for Windows, Linux, macOS and FreeBSD. RPCS3 It is the only emulator that can run commercial games, with over 12,900 commercial titles without major glitches (see the [https://rpcs3.net/compatibility compatibility list])000 considered playable. It also emulates the PSN versions of supports the PS3's internal [[PlayStation emulators|PlayStation Classics1 emulator]]. The emulator is making huge progress, improving every month. (See through the [https://rpcs3PlayStation Classics digital re-releases.net/blog/ progress reports])

|align=center|{{Icon|Win|Lin|Mac|BSD}}

RPCS3 was started by programmers 'DH' and 'Hykem' (Who began betas end-testing and coding goal is for [[JPCSP]] in 2008) on May 23, 2011. The its developers initially hosted the project on Google Code and eventually moved it to GitHub later in its development. The emulator was first able to successfully boot and run simple homebrew projects and was then later publicly released in June of 2012. Then-[[Orbital]] founderexperiment, Alex Altea, even joined these two developers in the late summer of 2013research, and worked educate on a number the topic of aspects, and maintained the project up till early 2015. DH left the project in mid-2016 and started doing [https://github.com/RPCS4 PlayStation 4 related research]. Hykem was forced to leave the 3 emulation scene in mid-2016 for a number of legitimate reasonsthat can be performed on compatible devices and operating systems.<ref>[httphttps://www.emunewzrpcs3.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=174735 [IMPORTANTabout RPCS3: About Us page] Hykem says goodbye] (August 18, 2016)</ref>As it is under active development, it does not have a stable release.

Three years into its development===History===RPCS3 began on May 23, it could load 2011 as an experimental project by DH and Hykem (who beta-tested and coded for [[JPCSP]] in 2008). They initially hosted the intros to some games with sound,<ref>project on [https://wwwcode.youtubegoogle.com/watch?v=oOcUcD9y51w Rpcs3 Update Quality Sound - Intro Video - The Guided Fate Paradoxarchive/p/rpcs3/source/default/source Google Code] (Mar 26, 2014)</ref> as well as play some portions and eventually moved it to GitHub later in its development, making the repository publicly available in June of Disgaea 3 2012. AlexAltea joined in late summer 2013 and The Guided Fate Paradoxworked on several components of the emulator, maintaining the codebase up until early 2015. DH left the project in mid-2016, but turning his attention to the PlayStation 4 with heavy graphical glitches and no sprites.<ref name="Disgaea3 video">the similarly named [https://www.youtubegithub.com/watch?v=IQEv6B6fIgA RPCS3 WIP - Disgaea 3 - Ingame!RPCS4 RPCS4] (Mar 22, 2014)</ref> Today RPCS3 is dubbed one . Hykem was pushed out of the most complex video game console emulators of all time with an endless goal scene in mid-2016 due to effectively emulate drama behind the Sony PlayStation 3 and all of its aspects. The goal of this project is for its programmers to experiment, research, and educate on the topic of PlayStation 3 emulation that can be performed on compatible devices and operating systemsscenes.<ref>[httpshttp://rpcs3www.emunewz.net/about RPCS3: About Us pageforum/showthread.php?tid=174735 <nowiki>[IMPORTANT]</nowiki> Hykem says goodbye]. August 18, 2016.</ref>

Developer Nekotekina opened After getting small homebrew apps working, the emulator could load the intros to some games with sound,<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOcUcD9y51w Rpcs3 Update Quality Sound - Intro Video - The Guided Fate Paradox] (Mar 26, 2014)</ref> as well as play some portions of Disgaea 3 and The Guided Fate Paradox, but with heavy graphical glitches and no sprites.<ref name="Disgaea3 video">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQEv6B6fIgA RPCS3 WIP - Disgaea 3 - Ingame!] (Mar 22, 2014)</ref> Successive improvements brought with it the ability to play lightweight titles like After Burner Climax with almost no glitches.<ref>John GodGames. (February 1, 2016) [https://www.patreonyoutube.com/Nekotekina a Patreon campaignwatch?v=MsuKQfsu-zk RPCS3 PS3 Emulator - After Burner Climax Ingame #2! DX12] in 2017. YouTube.</ref> After getting Persona 5 working, Atlus infamously sent the developers an erroneous DMCA takedown notice to help inforce a timed-exclusivity agreement with kdSony,<ref>[https://atlus.com/atlus-11 joining not long afterand-emulation/ Atlus and Emulation].</ref> creating a [[wikipedia:Streisand effect|Streisand effect]] of spotlighting RPCS3 as a viable PS3 emulator.

As of April 2021For a long time, it was commonly thought that the original firmware files could only be extracted from a modded PS3, RPCS3 has been able which would have greatly increased the barrier to play 59entry.75% However, one of the PS3 library from start developers discovered all the libraries were actually bundled with each system update, and that the emulator could include the ability to finishextract the files. The emulator is capable of running over 1,900 games at a playable speed with no major glitches<ref name="Compatibility Page">Nekotekina opened [https://rpcs3www.patreon.netcom/compatibility</ref>Nekotekina a Patreon campaign] in 2017, though it requires very demanding hardware on most gameswith kd-11 joining not long after. In June 2018 , after a few improvements and fixes, at least most PlayStation 1 Classic titles became playable.<ref>[https://rpcs3.net/blog/2018/07/15/progress-report-june-2018/ #major Progress Report: June 2018]. § PlayStation 1 Classic titles] became playableClassics. Currently, only </ref> Only the PSN versions re-releases work (No PS1 ; no discs are able to can be loaded in-game into the PS1 emulator yet). In January 2022, RPCS3 announced that the XMB could be ran on firmwares as low as 2.80.

Since Today, RPCS3 is able to play almost two thirds of the emulator started getting funded PS3's commercial library from start to finish. Emulating most games is demanding on Patreonhardware, development though work has been progressing quickly, so more games are expected done to be playable in reduce the near futurerequirements.

* [https://codeOn May 5, 2022, RSXAudio was implemented, adding audio to the XMB.google.com/archive/p/rpcs3/source/default/source Source code] for original Also on that month, RPCS3 code from 2011-2013uploaded a video on YouTube showing the SPU performance improvements made at the time.

RPCS3 has (or works with) some enhancements for gameplay, such as:;[https://rpcs3.net/blog/2018/08/08/eliminating-stutter-with-asynchronous-shader-implementation/ Asynchronous Shader Recompilation]:Makes games run Compiles shaders as the game runs, allowing for [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu-HwEEU5K0 virtually stutter freeperformance] at the cost of some objects and textures [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59q7wbeJLOo new shaders/textures popping into existence]as you play. Note: It only gives a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGWk1p7pCVk tiny performance boost] - a powerful computer and further optimizations from the emulator will be needed to get the more demanding titles to run at full frame rate speeds, i.e. like 30 FPS or 60 FPS. Many demanding games may utilize multiple secondary cores plus the primary core of the PS3's CPU so parallelization techniques will be needed, perhaps running on a user's GPU or 8-core and better CPU. This recompilation mode only simulates the shaders coming through the RSX graphics processor.

;[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sag4SF7dDrw ReShade]:ThirdA third-party suitethat hooks into the renderer. Makes many games appear [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPcHjnTZC_o more vibrant or saturated], particularly more pronounced in those with dull textures like the Tales of series, Naruto series, and other anime-based titles. ;[https://www.rewasd.com/releases/release-6.3.0 reWASD]:A third-party application which can emulate any controlling device (gamepad/keyboard/mouse) as a PS3 controller. After installing [https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Controller:DualShock_3#Wired_connection_-_official_drivers Official Sony Drivers], Virtual DualShock 3 is visible in RPCS3 as native device and allows to map theirs pressure-sensitive buttons with modifiers eg. pressing left back button+× is decreasing pressure-sensitivity of × to 50%, but right back button+× is decreasing pressure-sensitivity of × to 20%. Exclusively software allows to use Official Sony Driver wirelessly. ReWASD works with Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, Steam, Nvidia, Logitech controllers and [https://help.rewasd.com/how-to-remap/supported-devices.html others]. Pressure-sensitive buttons option is helpful in games like "Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots" or "Gran Turismo 5". See the [https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/List_of_games_that_support_Pressure-Sensitive_Face_Buttons#PlayStation_3_Emulation list of games that support Pressure-Sensitive Face Buttons on PlayStation 3]. ==[https://rpcs3.net/quickstart#requirements_desktop System Requirements]=====<abbr title="For being able to run any games at all, no performance or stability guarantees">Minimum Requirements</abbr>=== '''CPU'''<br/>AMD - Any x64 CPU but CPUs without AVX2 and with less than 4 cores and 8 threads are expected to run very badly overall and CPUs with only 2 cores per CCX cluster are expected to run very badly overall<br/>Intel - Any x64 CPU but CPUs without AVX2 and with less than 4 cores and 8 threads are expected to run very badly overall '''GPU'''<br/>AMD - OpenGL 4.3 compatible or newer (AMD Evergreen architecture, HD 5000 series or newer)<br/>NVIDIA - OpenGL 4.3 compatible or newer (NVIDIA Fermi architecture, GTX 400 series or newer) '''RAM'''<br/>4 GB of RAM or more (4 GB is the absolute minimum requirement) '''Storage'''<br/>SSD or HDD storage for emulator data and games<br/>512 MB for base emulator data, 5 GB for virtual console dev_hdd1 cache<br/><abbr title="* Average recommendation. Some games may require more, most games require less">128 MB for emulator cache and console user data per installed game.</abbr> '''OS'''<br/>Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows 11<br/>Linux 5.4 (Older LTS), Ubuntu 18.04 or newer<br/>macOS Monterey 12.0 or newer<br/>FreeBSD 12.3 or newer<br/> ===<abbr title="For running all playable games with playable performance">Recommended Requirements</abbr>=== '''CPU'''<br/>AMD - 6 cores and 12 threads, 8 cores or more (AMD Zen 2 architecture or newer) '''*AMD Threadripper 1000 and 2000 series are not recommended'''<br/>Intel - 6 cores and 12 threads, 8 cores or more (Intel Skylake architecture or newer) '''GPU'''<br/>AMD - Vulkan compatible with active driver support (AMD Polaris architecture, RX 400 series or newer)<br/>NVIDIA - Vulkan compatible with active driver support (NVIDIA Maxwell architecture, GTX 900 series or newer) '''RAM'''<br/>8 GB of dual-channel RAM or more ('''Dual-channel memory is highly recommended over single-channel''') '''Storage'''<br/>SSD storage for emulator data, SSD or HDD storage for games<br/>512 MB for base emulator data, 5 GB for virtual console dev_hdd1 cache<br/><abbr title="* Average recommendation. Some games may require more, most games require less">128 MB for emulator cache and console user data per installed game.</abbr> '''OS'''<br/>Windows 10 22H2 or newer, Windows 11 22H2 or newer<br/>Linux 6.2 (Latest), 6.1 (LTS) or newer<br/>macOS Monterey 12.3 or newer<br/>FreeBSD 13.1 or newer<br/> ===[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Rpq_2D4Rf3g6O-x2R1fwTSKWvJH7X63kExsVxHnT2Mc/edit#gid=0 CPU Tier List for RPCS3]=== ===Laptop PC Requirements=== RPCS3 team recommend using a laptop equipped with an 8-core/16-thread 35W+ H-series CPU such as an Intel Core i7-10870H or an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H, as well as having a compatible dedicated GPU (dGPU) with Vulkan compatibility. While being a tall order, this is the ideal spec and RPCS3 team cannot guarantee even remotely good performance with laptops equipped with as little as 4-cores. RPCS3 team strongly recommend using RPCS3 with a desktop PC over a laptop. Should you want to use a laptop, these are the hardware requirements for an optimal experience.

RPCS3 does not work without uses the original system firmware. This firmware contains libraries used to interface with the games in different ways, like such as Bluetooth, PlayStation Eye, and so on. For a long time, it was commonly thought that these libraries could only be extracted from a modded PS3, which would have greatly increased the barrier to entry, however one of the developers discovered all the libraries were actually bundled with each system update, and that  [https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/hardware/ps3/system-software/ You can extract them from the official update files that Sony also supplies these updates distributes through their website.]. This is the preferred method of installing the firmware; download Download the latest update from Sonyfile, then in RPCS3 go to File -> Install Firmware, and select the downloaded update file.

==Basic troubleshootingNetplay==Issues are to be expected since the emulator is still early (even though the project was started in 2011)[https://wiki.rpcs3.net/index. php?title===Audio stutter===Cannot be completely eliminated in most cases, but you can at least try to mitigate it by playing around with the "Preferred SPU Thread" setting as well as the "lower SPU thread priority" and "Bind SPU thread" to secondary core settings.  In addition, manually adjusting the priority and affinity of the Help:Netplay RPCS3 process can affect it independently of the other internal settings. On Windowsuses RPCN for netplay, this is done via the Task Manager. On Linux, CLI and GUI tools exist like System Monitor and Task Manager that can change the priority. It varies by distribution. This can influence audio stutter and performance in general but especially ] which emulates some P2P matchmaking servers for Ryzen usersPS3 games. ===Unavailable setting(s)===If you can't find Only a specific setting in RPCS3, you could be using an old build, and should probably update it. ===Locked PSN demos===Some PSN few titles use an '''.EDAT''' file to differentiate between "trial" and "full version" states rather than a '''.RAP''' file; these games are often referred to as "c00" gamessupported, stemming from the c00 folder in their installation which contains parameters for the full versionbut more are expected. This can cause issues with unlocking certain titles, with a notorious example being '''CastlevaniaSee [https: Harmony of Despair'''. If a title utilizing an //docs.EDAT file will not unlock its full version, renaming the google.EDAT to .RAP will usually unlock as intended. <!-com/spreadsheets/d/1Xp-662d12W13CZSzSiaBfB4BHwU2PyOFMdp_W4sA5Bo/edit#gid==Netplay==* RPCS3 uses Kaillera clients0 this compatibility list].-->

[[Category:Consoles' Console emulators]][[Category:Home consoles' console emulators]]