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SharpEmu

<p align="center"> <img src="./assets/images/logo.png" width=30% height=30% /> </p> <p align="center"> An experimental PlayStation 5 emulator for Windows and Linux, with experimental backward compatibility support for PlayStation 4 games. </p>

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[!IMPORTANT] Official channels: Only sharpemu.app and the links listed in this GitHub repository are affiliated with SharpEmu. Any other websites, accounts, or donation pages are unofficial and unauthorized.

[!NOTE]
SharpEmu supports Windows x64 and Linux x64. Windows on ARM devices (e.g. Snapdragon) can run the Windows x64 build through Windows' built-in x64 emulation. macOS support is maintained separately in sharpemu/sharpemu-mac.

[!WARNING]
SharpEmu is an experimental PS5 and support backwards mode for PS4 emulator developed from scratch in C#. The current focus is on accuracy and infrastructure setup rather than game-specific compatibility.

Info

SharpEmu is an emulator project currently in its early stages of development.

This project is developed purely for research and educational purposes. There are no commercial goals associated with it. We enjoy learning about system architecture and reverse engineering.

SharpEmu focuses exclusively on the PlayStation 5 and there is a backward compatibility mode for PS4 games.

Selected Games

A selection of games tested with SharpEmu. This is not an exhaustive list of supported titles.

Demon's Souls Remake	ASTRO BOT

ASTRO's PLAYROOM	Gran Turismo 7

God of War: Sons of Sparta	Tomb Raider V Remastered

<p align="center"> <a href="https://sharpemu.app/compatibility/" target="_blank"><strong><i>And more..</i></strong></a> </p>

Experimental backward compatibility mode

Bloodborne	Uncharted The Nathan Drake Collection

Status

The emulator can currently load the eboot.bin of real games, execute native CPU instructions, and partially handle gpu-related functionality. Included 3D games.

SharpEmu supports Windows and Linux hosts, with video output through Vulkan. Platform support is still experimental, so compatibility and performance vary by game, operating system, and GPU driver. For macOS, see sharpemu/sharpemu-mac.

Using

Download the release archive for your operating system, extract it, and launch SharpEmu with the path to a legally obtained game's eboot.bin.

Or command line;

Windows PowerShell:

.\SharpEmu.exe "C:\path\to\game\eboot.bin" --log-to-file

Linux:

chmod +x ./SharpEmu

./SharpEmu "/path/to/game/eboot.bin" --log-to-file

SharpEmu supports environment variables that can be configured from the GUI. Undocumented variables are listed here: docs/sharpemu-gui-undocumented-env-vars.md

You can set them per game or globally in the GUI, or pass them directly through the CLI.

A Vulkan-capable GPU and current graphics driver are required.

See Game patches for downloading, enabling and writing game patches.

[!IMPORTANT]
This project does not support or condone piracy.
All games used during development and testing are dumped from consoles that we personally own.
Users are expected to use legally obtained copies of their games.

Build

1. Install the .NET SDK version specified in global.json.
2. Clone the repository: git clone https://github.com/sharpemu/sharpemu.git
3. Open the solution file (SharpEmu.slnx) in VSCode.
4. Build the project: dotnet build or dotnet publish
5. Build artifacts will be located in the artifacts directory.

Disclaimer

SharpEmu is an experimental emulator intended for research and educational purposes.

This project does not contain any copyrighted system firmware, game data, or proprietary PlayStation assets.

Special Thanks

The following projects were extremely helpful during development:

• ShadPS4
  Helped with understanding the basic architecture of the PlayStation 4.

• Kyty
  One of the few PS5 emulator projects available and very useful for studying native code execution.

• Ryujinx
  Provided valuable references for filesystem handling and low-level C# implementation patterns.

• OpenGNM Used as a reference for the general GCN architecture.

License

• GPL-2.0 license

Support

Support SharpEmu via GitHub Sponsors or cryptocurrency. Every contribution helps fund ongoing development and long-term maintenance. GitHub Sponsors is the preferred way to support the project, but cryptocurrency donations are also appreciated.

ETH/USDT

0xF315F5d986c790bB3A58DbE60F1B2760997dEd82

BTC

bc1qmr9k8899njys5ny63xsues4jgmkk96erslrkmv

Contributing

Before opening an issue or pull request, please read our contribution guidelines:

CONTRIBUTING.md

The guide covers:

• Coding style and formatting
• AI-assisted contributions
• Pull request expectations
• Testing guidelines
• Legal and reverse engineering policy