shadPS4

A project called bbport converts Bloodborne's PS4 executable into a native Linux program and runs it with a purpose-built runtime. It is real, it is downloadable, and the headline going around about it is slightly wrong in a way worth understanding.

shadPS4 wrote AI contribution rules in August. By October, AI-assisted fixes were merging into mainline, including the one that restored the missing world in Uncharted. Meanwhile mGBA and SDL still close AI patches on sight.

AnyPS5 is not a PS5 emulator. It rewrites PlayStation 5 executables into native Linux and Windows binaries. A week ago it had no releases and one anonymous game drawing a logo. It now has two releases and a named game running at 60 fps.

mGBA closes AI-generated pull requests on sight. SDL banned them in April. QEMU says it cannot accept the legal risk. Meanwhile the Melee decompilation used AI to cross the finish line, and shadPS4 has started merging AI-assisted fixes under a disclosure policy.

Prosper and PS5PCEM are genuine projects, though one of them is not an emulator at all. They are also not the biggest names in PS5 emulation, and the sites that outrank them on Google are scams.

shadPS4 v0.17.0 shipped on 31 July with ZArchive compression, a live ShadNet, and a Pro-era follow-up. The compression is the part that changes handheld PS4 emulation.

shadPS4 has gone from a curiosity to something you can genuinely play. Here is how to set it up on an x86 handheld, and an honest read on what will actually run.

shadPS4 announced ShadNet, a custom server system for online features without PlayStation Network. Here is what works today, what it means, and the RPCS3 precedent.

Neglected PS4 exclusives like Bloodborne and Gravity Rush 2 are reaching PC at 4K and 60fps, not through official ports but through game-specific forks of the shadPS4 emulator. Here is how that works.

PS4 emulation got genuinely impressive in 2026, but can a handheld run shadPS4? Here is the honest state of it on portable hardware.