PS4 Emulator, shadPS4, Gets a Welcome Update
ShadPS4 recently updated to version 0.7.0, and despite not being a full 1.0 release has still included a variety of welcome fixes. PS4 games this emulator can already handle include Soulslike modern classic Bloodborne and comedy management sim Two Point Hospital.
As an open source project, shadPS4 has received code contributions from over 40 developers. Although there’s still quite a lot of work to be done before the emulator runs as smoothly as people want, the main developer, George Moralis aka shadow, has already highlighted just how much progress has already been made.
“It is amazing to see what this team has accomplished since my previous anniversary release. From some openOrbis demos last year we went to having a lot of commercial games running (yes, not only Bloodborne),” he said in an official release post on the shadPS4 site and Github page.
Some Games Run Better Than Others
As with any emulator, some games run close to perfect, whereas others are riddled with glitches. ShadPS4 already has a pretty robust list of compatible games with, at the time of writing, 11 available to play with no issues, but plenty more that run with only minor issues.
One recurring issue was that games made in Unity were often the hardest to get to even boot up in the first place. This is less of a problem now, partly due to update fixes such as HDR and FSR support for graphics, and overall improved Unity compatibility.
Bloodborne is the title most gamers will be interested in knowing about, as a PC port doesn’t officially exist, and there’s no word whether one will ever surface. It currently runs with no major issues via shadPS4.
Telltale Game’s critically-acclaimed The Wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead Season 2 are also both playable, with plenty more games being worked on by shadPS4 coders.
Other Fixes
Keyboard and mouse input remapping options and compatibility with older CPUs are two of the most notable fixes available in version 0.7.0. Translations for games are now easier to implement as the shadPS4 project is linked with Crowdin, AI-assisted localization software.
The latest version of shadPS4 is available for free download on Windows, Mac and Linux devices.