RPCS3 on PS5: RPCS3 team responds to question regarding PS3 emulator on PS5/PS5 Pro

One of the best things about early Sony PlayStation consoles was their full backwards compatibility with prior-gen. The PS2 had full backwards compatibility with PS1 games, while early PS3 models could also play both PS2 and PS1 games. Sony moved away from backwards compatibility with the PS4, as the console couldn’t run PS1, PS2, or PS3 games. While the PS5 can play PS4 games, the latest Sony console can’t do more.

The PS5 not being able to emulate PS3 games has always raised many questions among the fan base. While it might be a case of the PS5 CPU simply not being fast enough for PS3 emulation, Sony has never given any official reason for the omission. A fan has now asked whether the team behind RPCS3 can bring the PS3 emulator to the PS5 consoles, including the PS5 Pro.

RPCS3 is an incredible PS3 emulator. It can play an overwhelming majority of PS3 games on PCs straight from the PS3 game discs. It runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, and FreeBSD operating systems. So, it is not a surprise that people want the RPCS3 team to do more, from developing new emulators for consoles like the Xbox and Xbox 360 to bringing the emulator to PS5.

Responding to a fan question on X, the RPCS3 team explains that the team has “no interest” in bringing RPCS3 to the PS5. The RPCS3 team has previously opined that they don’t think the PS5’s Zen 2 CPU is powerful enough to handle proper PS3 emulation, something that the PS6 can potentially fix.

Interestingly, the RPCS3 team suggests that gamers can simply install the Linux version of RPCS3 on PS5 consoles modded with Linux. There are several videos on YouTube showing how you can install Linux and SteamOS on PS5 consoles, including one from Gamers Nexus.

So, while we may not see the day when RPCS3 officially moves to the PS5 or the next-gen PS6, users can definitely port the emulator over to the PlayStation 5 if they wish.

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