~20 MB

shadPS4

George Moralis (shadow)

Windows·Linux·Mac

Free·Open Source

shadPS4 is a free, open-source PlayStation 4 emulator written in C++, supporting Windows, Linux, and macOS. The project was started in October 2022 by George Moralis — known by the username "shadow" — who previously contributed to the PS1 emulator PCSX and founded the PCSX2 project. shadPS4 is still under active development and is currently the most advanced PS4 emulator available. Playable titles include Bloodborne, Dark Souls Remastered, Red Dead Redemption, Persona 5, and hundreds of others. As of November 2025, 317 titles are listed as "in game" and 179 titles as "playable" according to the official compatibility database. shadPS4 uses a shader recompiler to improve 3D game compatibility, and supports both HLE and LLE modes (the latter using PS4 firmware modules directly). Games are loaded in PKG format rather than ISO like older-generation emulators. With regular updates and an active community, shadPS4 continues to grow rapidly toward broader compatibility.