Is there a working PS5 emulator?

There are open-source projects in active development, mainly SharpEmu and KytyPS5, plus AnyPS5, which converts PS5 games into native PC programs. As of November 2026 they can play some 2D and indie games. Most big 3D games only reach gameplay with low frame rates and many bugs.

Are SharpEmu and KytyPS5 the same project?

No. Their code is completely separate. SharpEmu was written from scratch in C# by a developer called Scarecrow. KytyPS5 is a heavily modified C++ fork of Kyty, a 2021 PS4/PS5 emulator, revived by developer Nmzik.

Why is PS5 emulation moving faster than PS3 emulation did?

The PS5 has an AMD Zen 2 CPU with the same x86-64 architecture as a PC, so a game's CPU code can run directly on a PC processor without instruction-by-instruction translation. The emulator mainly has to implement the PS5's system libraries and kernel calls, and translate RDNA 2 GPU commands and shaders to Vulkan.

Which operating systems do PS5 emulators support?

When they went open source in July, SharpEmu supported Windows, Linux and Intel Macs (Apple Silicon via Rosetta 2), while KytyPS5 was Windows-only and needed a Vulkan 1.3 GPU. As of November 2026, KytyPS5 targets Windows and Linux, with experimental macOS support.

PS5 Emulator for PC: SharpEmu vs KytyPS5 Explained (July 2026)

In mid-July 2026, two unrelated PS5 emulators, SharpEmu and KytyPS5, both showed real results within a week and opened their source code on July 15 and 16. At that point they could only run small 2D games smoothly, and big games went no further than menus or loading screens. Still, it was the first time two active, open-source PS5 emulators were moving forward at the same time.

The week in order

Date	What happened	Source
~Jul 9	An early SharpEmu build got Demon's Souls (PS5 remake) to its loading screen, then ran the 2D game Dreaming Sarah	Notebookcheck, Tom's Hardware
~Jul 10	KytyPS5 got Silent Hill: The Short Message to its loading screen and logo	Notebookcheck, Tom's Hardware
~Jul 11	KytyPS5 0.0.3: the PS5 version of GTA V reached its main menu and display settings; Quake II Remastered reached 3D gameplay (about 7 fps)	Notebookcheck (Jul 14)
Jul 15	SharpEmu's author announced it was now a community project, with code, issue tracker and contribution process public	VideoCardz
Jul 16	KytyPS5 published its source for the first time: 427 files and 205,923 lines, covering the launcher, memory handling, shader recompilation, GPU command processing and Vulkan renderer	VideoCardz

Notebookcheck's take on July 11: far from a working PS5 emulator, but it "lays the foundation."

Two different approaches

	SharpEmu	KytyPS5
Origin	Written from scratch in C# by Scarecrow; developed privately for about four months	Fork of Kyty, a 2021 PS4/PS5 emulator abandoned in 2022; revived by Nmzik as PS5-only; C++
Focus	Accuracy and core infrastructure	Booting as many games as possible
OS (July)	Windows, Linux, Intel Mac (Apple Silicon via Rosetta 2)	Windows, Vulkan 1.3 GPU required; Linux planned
Graphics	Vulkan, MoltenVK on Mac	Vulkan
License	GPL-2.0	GPL-2.0
Games shown in July	Demon's Souls remake (loading screen), Dreaming Sarah, Void Terrarium, Dead Cells	Disgaea 6, Dreaming Sarah, Minecraft Legends, PowerWash Simulator, PAC-MAN WORLD, GTA V (menus)

Tom's Hardware summed it up at the end of July: KytyPS5 was moving faster, while SharpEmu was working on accuracy and infrastructure, the groundwork needed before big games like Astro Bot can reach gameplay.

Why PS5 emulation got going so fast

The PS5 uses an AMD Zen 2 processor with the same x86-64 architecture as a regular PC. A game's CPU code can run directly on a PC processor instead of being translated instruction by instruction, as with the PS3. What the emulator really has to do:

Implement the PS5's system libraries and kernel calls (memory, threads, files, audio and so on);
Translate RDNA 2 GPU commands and shaders into Vulkan for PC graphics cards.

That's why KytyPS5 calls itself a "translation layer" rather than a traditional emulator. Tom's Hardware noted that PS5 emulation was already ahead of where PS4 emulation was at the same point. The PS4 emulator shadPS4 took years to make Bloodborne largely playable.

What neither could do yet

No PS5 exclusive was playable: Demon's Souls stopped at its loading screen, GTA V at its menus;
Both projects warned about crashes, missing features, graphics errors and poor performance;
Neither includes any games, system firmware or keys. They need game files dumped from a PS5 console.

Around the same time there was also RPCSX from the team behind the PS3 emulator RPCS3, a research project for PS4/PS5 software that couldn't yet boot games from its interface.

Later: a third approach with AnyPS5

In late September, AnyPS5 showed up. It doesn't emulate the console. It rewrites a PS5 game's executable into a native Windows or Linux program and supplies its own system libraries, much like Proton or Wine. According to GitHub records, its first commit was on August 3, 2026, so it wasn't part of the July wave.

What this means for players

That week in July was the starting line for PS5 emulation, not the finish. To see what runs today, check the SharpEmu, KytyPS5 and AnyPS5 pages and their compatibility records. Only trust the official sites and repositories; be careful with bundled "PS5 emulator download" sites. PS4 emulation is far more mature, so start with shadPS4 and the PlayStation hub.

Two PS5 Emulators in One Week: SharpEmu and KytyPS5 Go Open Source, and How They Differ

Key points