The PlayStation 4 is among the best video gaming consoles developed by Sony. With its rising popularity, every game lover wants to have a piece of it, but everyone can’t afford it. Now, things are quite different, and these days you don’t need a PS4 console to play your favorite games. The development of PS4 emulators has made it possible to play these games on your PCs, Macs, or smartphones.
So if you’re looking for a PS4 emulator that actually works, we’ve got you covered.
Best PS4 Emulators for PC
PS4 Emulators | Key Features | Supported Platform | Pricing | Editor’s Ratings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1. PS4EMUS |
| macOS, Windows, iOS, smartphones, and Android desktop | Free | 9.5 |
2. Orbital PS4 |
| Linux PCs and Windows | Free | 9.5 |
3. PCSX4 |
| macOS and Windows | Free | 9.3 |
4. PS4 SNES Station |
| macOS and Windows | Free | 9.3 |
5. RPCS3 |
| Windows, Linux, macOS, and FreeBSD | Free | 8.9 |
6. PS4 EMX |
| Windows only | Free | 8.5 |
7. ESX |
| Windows only | Free | 8 |
8. SpineDemo |
| Linux only | Free | 8 |
9. PSeMu3 |
| Linux and Windows | Free | 7.8 |
10. Mednafen PS3 R3 Emulator |
| Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android | Free | 7.5 |
11. GPCS4 |
| Windows only | Free | 7.5 |
12. PS4 Delta |
| Windows only | Free | 7 |
1. PS4EMUS
Best for playing PlayStation 4 games on macOS, iOS, Windows, and Android.
PS4EMUS is aPS4 emulatorthat runs on macOS, iOS, Windows, and Android devices. It was released in 2013, supporting some PlayStation games. But now, it supports a large library of PS4 games. Moreover, you don’t need a jailbreak to run the emulator on mobile or desktop devices.
Features
- Optimized gameplay on smartphones and PCs
- Hosts an online server for PS4 games.
- In-built BIOS Support
Editor’s Review
Although it supports many PS4 games, you’ll need a high-end system to run them smoothly.
2. Orbital PS4 Emulator
Best for playing PlayStation 4 games on Linux OS, macOS, and Windows.
The Orbital PS4 emulator is among the best virtualization software that can run on Linux, macOS, and Windows. It supports emulation in virtualization mode, which replicates the PS4 RAM during the process. Moreover, its dynamic compiler runs games at a binary level to create greater compatibility with PS4 games.
Features
- A low-level emulator that virtualizes PS4 console OS
- Boot decrypted kernels
- Appropriate for high-end computers
- Regular updates
Editor’s Review
The Orbital PS4 Emulator for Windows works with high-powered computers with a minimum RAM of 16 GB. It is an open-source project supported by the GitHub community. However, it is still under development and cannot be used for playing commercial games.
3. PCSX4
Best for playing PlayStation 4 games on macOS and Windows.
PCSX4 is a great emulator to run games at higher frame rates. It uses Vulkan, OpenGL, and DirectX 12 to run PS4 games. The emulator also supports various input devices, including Xbox One and PS4 controllers, PC mouse, etc.
Features
- GCI encryption with the 256-bit protocol
- Play games at higher frame rates
- Supports multiple input devices
Editor’s Review
PCSX4 is still in the beta version, so you may experience some minor glitches while playing PS4 games. You’ll also need a high-end machine to run the games smoothly.
4. PS4 SNES Station Emulator
Best forplaying classic SNES games on your PS4 console.
The PS4 SNES Station Emulator is among the best emulators to run classic SNES games. It is a port file of the PS2 SNES emulator. The ported PS4 pkg file allows you to install the emulator as an app on your PlayStation 4 console.
Features
- Supports all SNES games
- Offers built-in ROMs
Editor’s Review
The SNES emulator is still under development. It is not a native PS4 app, but you can install it by following some instructions. However, you can install the emulator on PlayStation 4.04 Jailbreak consoles.
5. RPCS3
Best forplaying PlayStation 3 games on Linux, BSD, macOS, and Windows.
The RPCS3 emulator supports various operating systems and can run PS3 games smoothly on these systems. This project was started back in 2011 by DH and Hykem and later migrated to GitHub after its development. Its developers constantly try to release newer emulator versions with some updated functionalities.
Features
- Open-source emulator
- Interactive user interface
- Supports 1300+ PS3 games
- General public license version 2
Editor’s Review
The RPCS3 emulator works well with normal PCs but requires a decent GPU to render games smoothly.
6. PS4 EMX
Best forplaying PlayStation 4 games on Windows.
PS4 EMX is an open-source emulator developed by Ghaststeam in 2014 and is by far the bestPS4 emulator for Windows.However, there are certain changes that developers intend to make in the near future to make it a cross-compatible PS4 emulator.
Features
- Supports shader code
- Supports full virtualization
- Native binary compilation
- Map emulated memory to secondary storage
Editor’s Review
The PS4 EMX emulator works with high-end PCs. The minimum system requirements are Pixel Shader Model 3, an NVIDIA or AMD GPU card, 2GB of RAM, and a 50 GHz processor for Windows.
7. ESX Emulator
Best forplaying PlayStation 3 games.
ESX is a PS3 emulator for PC that runs by using an XMB kernel to compile native games. Its simple UI makes it easy for users to play PS3 games without glitches or lags.
Features
- Supports most PS3 games
- Minimal lag or glitches
- Uses a decompiled PS3 XMB kernel
Editor’s Review
ESX is the best emulator for enjoying high-end games without any lags. Moreover, you can play many PlayStation 3 games at a higher resolution.
8. SpineDemo
Best forplaying PlayStation 4 games on the Linux OS.
The SpineDemo emulator uses OpenGL and VMware Fusion to emulate demo PS4 games. However, it is for advanced users only because of its complex installation process. First, you must dump the game files on your console and then copy them to your computer to play them using SpineDemo.
Features
- VMware Fusion support
- OpenGL acceleration
- Runs on Linux
Editor’s Review
SpineDemo is still under development and can run only 2 games, i.e., “We Are Doomed” and “Mega Man Legacy Collection.” However, there are no changes made by the developer, but we hope to see them soon.
9. PSeMu3
Best forplaying PS3 games on Linux and Windows.
PSeMu3 is another great PS3 emulator for your PC. It can play both PS1 and PS2 games and supports various cheat codes. In addition, the emulator can run on average systems without any lags or glitches.
Features
- Supports ISO format images
- Supports cheat codes
- Great for average systems
- Runs PlayStation 1 and PlayStation 2 games
Editor’s Review
PSeMu3 is a powerful and easy-to-use emulator for Windows. However, the developers have removed it from the original website, but you can still download it from other third-party sites.
10. Mednafen PS3 R3 Emulator
Best for playing Gameboy Advance, NES, Gameboy Color, and other games on your PS3 console.
The Mednafen PS3 R3 emulator, also known as the Nintencer, was released in 2010. It has some original features, like PNG format screenshots, an open graphics library, and a simple direct media player. You can play handheld games by installing an emulator on your PS3 console.
Features
- Fast forward games
- Load uncompressed and zipped images
- Supports emulation of GG, GBA, GBC, SMS, and NES games
- Save games on a USB drive
Editor’s Review
Mednafen requires a PS3 Jailbreak to play handheld games on your console.
11. GPCS4`
Best fordoing technical research on PS4 emulators.
GPCS4 is an under-process PlayStation 4 emulator started for technical research to learn 3D graphics. It has thirteen contributors who use shader translation and hard-coded tests for PS4 game emulation. The developers may come up with a strong and stable PS4 emulator in the near future.
Features
- Supports the “We Are Doomed” game.
- Supports compute rings, simple compute shaders, and cube maps
- No optimizations as of now
- Recompiles shaders
12. PS4 Delta
Best forexperimenting with PS4 games.
PS4 Delta is in the early stages of development. It is a group project, and its contributors consistently work to improve this emulator for playing PlayStation 4 games.
Features
- Requires 8GB RAM and X86-64 CPU with SSE4.2
- Initializes certain firmware modules
- GPU with Vulkan 1.0+ support
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is The PS4 Emulator?
The PS4 emulator is software that emulates PS4 games and lets you play them on your PC, Mac, Android, and iOS devices.
What Are The Issues With PS4 Emulators?
The major issue with PS4 emulators is that it’s hard to create an emulator that can execute PS4 ROMs with ease. As a result, most are still in the development or beta stages, and the rest are fake.
Is The PS4 Emulator Free?
You can play your favorite PS4 games using a PS4 emulator for free.
Are PS4 Emulators Legal?
Playing PlayStation games using PS4 emulators is legal if you own these games. But it is not legal to play a copy of a game you do not own.
Conclusion
If you want to play PS4 games on your PC or Mac device, you can try these PS4 emulators:
- PS4EMUS
- Orbital PS4 Emulator
- PCSX4
- PS4 SNES Station Emulator
- RPCS3
- PS4 EMX
- ESX Emulator
- SpineDemo
- PSeMu3
- Mednafen PS3 R3 Emulator
- GPCS4
- PS4 Delta
Hopefully, one of these PS4 emulators has worked for you. Were you able to play games using the emulator? If so, let me know in the comments below.
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