Hadlee Simons / Android Authority
TL;DR
- The Android port of the PS3 emulator RCPS3 is now in available in alpha.
- This comes less than a week after RCPS3 founder DH started work on the project.
- It's still early and many features are missing, but it's a great sign for PS3 emulation in 2025.
PS3 emulation on Android continues to push ahead, with an early build of RCPS3 already available for download and testing. The news comes less than a week after work on the project began by RCPS3 cofounder DH, which is a great sign for things to come.
However, this is just an early alpha build, so you'll need to temper your expectations. Few games will launch correctly, and there are no controls integrated, so don't expect to do any actual gaming. Still, it's a level of progress most emulators don't make for months, let alone a single week.
The port is made possible by the Arm release of RPCS3 last December, which is much easier to port than the x86 Windows or Linux versions. The current developers of RPCS3 have stated that they will not work on an Android port due to toxicity in the community, but that hasn't stopped other developers from taking up the mantle.
It's still early, but 2025 is looking like the year of PS3 emulation on Android.
aPS3e, an early attempt at porting the Arm version to Android, made headlines as the first working PS3 emulator on the platform. However, it also made headlines for stealing code and violating open-source licensing agreements, leading to its removal from GitHub.
DH, who was one of the founders of RPCS3 back in 2011, seems to have been inspired by this turn of events, spinning up their own fork on February 25. They haven't developed for the main RPCS3 app in years, but with intimate knowledge of the original codebase, they have a major advantage over other developers.
The project is available for download on the RPCS3-Android GitHub, although DH hasn't made any official announcements yet. Regardless, it's an exciting time for fans of emulation on Android, and we'll be keeping a close eye on further developments.
