The current console generation saw PlayStation port many of its exclusives to PC, including God of War and its sequel, Ghost of Tsushima, The Last of Us series and others, but the publisher recently pivoted from this strategy, as it will only be live service and multiplayer games such as Helldivers 2, Marathon and MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls that will be ported to PC in the future. Alongside the decision to end disc production in 2028 (a decision that could be reversed, according to recent rumors), this seems to have kicked the hornets’ nest, so to speak, as PlayStation 5 emulation has seen some significant progress in the past few months.
However, a new development could even make emulation obsolete, as a tool currently in the works could open the floodgates to unofficial PlayStation 5 ports on PC.
AnyPS5 is a “tool for automatic executables porting to Linux and Windows” which includes a “relinker that converts executable to the target system’s native format and implementations of system prx libraries suitable for dynamic linking. No emulation or separate runtime process,” according to its official description on GitHub.
In simpler terms, AnyPS5 works like a compatibility layer akin to Wine and Proton, taking the original PlayStation 5 executable files and converting them into native Windows and Linux formats while recompiling console shaderseaches the initial boot of games but fails to run them due to missing PlayStation 5 OS hooks
While development is still very early, it’s easy to see AnyPS5‘s potential. As both the system and modern PCs run on x86-64 architecture, running the games natively would bypass the CPU limitations that come with emulation, and thus they would run at full speed, or close to it, possibly even with complete DualSense support over Bluetooth thanks to an unofficial app. And with PlayStation no longer porting single-player games, this would give PC players access to titles that would otherwise remain console exclusives for the foreseeable future, including older games like the Demon’s Souls remake developed by Bluepoint Games and future games like God of War Laufey.
The big question on everybody’s mind after learning of AnyPS5 is obviously the chances of GTA 6 hitting PC before Rockstar Games officially ports the game. The answer to this question is likely not. Looking at the tool’s current progress, it’s clear there is still a lot of work left to do, which is unlikely to be completed before the highly anticipated game officially launches on the platform. Still, a very interesting development that could make Sony rethink its strategy, if it ever comes to fruition.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack.
After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi “Suda51” Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA’s president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3.
When he’s not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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