RPCS3

RPCS3 is a free and open-source in-development video game console emulator and debugger for the Sony PlayStation 3. The emulator currently runs on Windows, Linux and FreeBSD operating systems, allowing PlayStation 3 games and software to be played and debugged on a personal computer. It is being developed in the C++ programming language targeting X86-64 CPUs and features OpenGL and Vulkan as its back-end renderers.

RPCS3
RPCS3 running on Windows 10, showing the main window where games and software are shown, as well as the about box
Original author(s)DH, Hykem, AlexAltea
Developer(s)Nekotekina, kd-11, elad335, jarveson, Megamouse, hcorion, scribam, ruipin, isJuhn, Galciv, Numan
Initial releaseMay 2011 (2011-05)
Stable release
None
Preview release
v0.0.14-11575 Alpha / January 15, 2021 (2021-01-15)[1]
Repositorygithub.com/rpcs3/rpcs3/
Written inC++ and ASM
Operating systemWindows 7 or later, Linux, BSD
Platformx86-64
Size
  • Windows: 17.6 MB
  • Linux: 48.6 MB
Available inEnglish
TypeVideo game console emulator
LicenseGNU General Public License version 2+
Websiterpcs3.net

As of December 9, 2020, the developer's compatibility list marks 1890 games as playable and 1070 games being able to go in-game.[2]

Development

RPCS3 was initially created on May 23, 2011 by programmers DH and Hykem.[3] The developers initially hosted the project on Google Code and eventually moved it to GitHub on August 27, 2013. The emulator was first able to successfully run simple homebrew projects in September 2011[4] and got its first public release in June 2012 as v0.0.0.2.[5]

On February 9, 2017, RPCS3 received its first implementation of a PPU Thread Scheduler, enhancing its emulation of the many-core Cell microprocessor.[6] On February 16, 2017, RPCS3 gained the ability to install official PlayStation 3 firmware directly to its core file system.[7] In May 2017, it was reported that the implementation of the Vulkan graphics API had shown some performance improvements approaching 400%, pushing several games into "playable" status.[8]

Requirements

As of March 21, 2020, the emulator requires a 64-bit version of Windows 7 or later, a modern Linux distribution, or a modern BSD distribution. The PC must have at least 4 GB of RAM, an X86-64 CPU and a GPU supporting one of the supported graphics APIS: OpenGL 4.3 or greater and Vulkan, the latter being recommended. Apart from the game itself to be run, the emulator requires a dump of the PlayStation 3's firmware.[9]

Reception

In March 2014, Cinema Blend's William Usher wrote, "A lot of gamers originally thought that the complexity of the PlayStation 3's Cell architecture would have prevented it from being emulated".[10] In March 2014, Eurogamer's Elio Cossu wrote, "The emulation, even at such an early stage, was a remarkable achievement, considering the complexity of the hardware of the PS3."[11]

Atlus DMCA takedown notice

RPCS3 received significant media attention in April 2017 for its ability to emulate Persona 5, achieving playability prior to the game's Western release date.[12][13][14][15] In September 2017, Persona developer Atlus issued a DMCA takedown notice against RPCS3's Patreon page. The action was motivated by the Patreon page making frequent mentions on the emulator's progress on emulating Persona 5. The demand, however, was settled by only removing all Persona 5 references from the page.[16][17]

See also

References
  1. "Downloads". rpcs3.net. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  2. "RPCS3 Compatibility". rpcs3.net. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  3. "rpcs3 r1 Google Code". 2011-05-23 – via Google Code.
  4. "rpcs3 r28 on Google Code". 2011-05-23 – via Google Code.
  5. "rpcs3 tag 0.0.0.2". 2012-06-01 – via Google Code.
  6. "Pull request #2349 - [WIP] PPU scheduler". Retrieved 2017-03-03 – via GitHub.
  7. "PS3UPDAT.PUP installer (#2386) · RPCS3/rpcs3@458dbbd". Retrieved 2017-03-03 – via GitHub.
  8. Donnell, Peter (2017-05-22). "RPCS3 Gets Performance Boost with Vulkan API". Eteknix. Archived from the original on 2019-01-22.
  9. "Quickstart". rpcs3.net. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  10. Usher, William (2014-03-08). "PS3 Emulator Can Now Run Commercial Games". CINEMABLEND. Archived from the original on 2014-03-13. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  11. Cossu, Elio (Mar 7, 2014). "RPCS3, ecco l'emulatore PS3 per Windows". Eurogamer (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2014-03-29. Retrieved 2014-03-09.
  12. Prescott, Shaun (2017-04-03). "Persona 5 is playable on PC with this PS3 emulator". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 2017-06-21.
  13. Plunkett, Luke (2017-04-04). "Here's Persona 5 "Running" On A PC". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 2018-06-23.
  14. Becht, Eli (2017-04-05). "'Persona 5' Running on PC Emulation". Heavy.com. Archived from the original on 2018-03-19.
  15. Grubb, Jeff (2017-04-03). "Persona 5 is up and running on one of the PC's PlayStation 3 emulators". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 2018-06-23.
  16. Moon, Mariella (2017-09-27). "Atlus tried to take down a PS3 emulator advertising 'Persona 5'". Engadget. Archived from the original on 2017-09-29.
  17. Orland, Kyle (2017-09-27). "Atlus wants to cut off a PS3 emulator because it runs Persona 5". ArsTechnica. Archived from the original on 2017-09-30.
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