Hadlee Simons / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Sudachi developer Jarrod Norwell is working on a new Android port of RPCS3.
- He is also behind Folium, one of the few emulators on iOS.
- There’s no playable build yet, but aPS3e has already proved native PS3 emulation on Android is possible.
The barrier to PS3 emulation on Android has never been thinner. Although the initial aPS3e app has been removed from GitHub amid licensing controversies, there’s now new hope from a familiar Australian developer. Called rpcs3droid, it’s another native port of RPCS3 via Android Studio.
It’s the latest project from Jarrod Norwell, AKA antique_codes, who is well-known in the emulation community. He’s previously developed the popular Yuzu fork Sudachi, as well as the Folium multi-emulator on iOS. Judging by his posts on X, it appears he was inspired by the performance of aPS3e but found issues with its codebase and the closing of open-source code.
For reference, aPS3e was found to be using open-source code from RPCS3, Termux, and Vita3K. This would be fine if the new project remained open-source, but the developer partially closed it and stated he would open it after receiving $2000 in donations. It was later removed from GitHub entirely.
aPS3e proved PS3 emulation on Android is possible, opening the flood gates for more established developers.
There’s no downloadable build for rpcs3droid yet, so it may be a while before it approaches even the level of performance we saw in aPS3e. It may also be a small pet project for the developer, who is still actively working on new features in Folium.
Still, it’s an exciting development that shows there may still be a future for native PS3 emulation on Android. The viral success of aPS3e shows that there’s a lot of pent-up interest in the Android community, paving the way for more established developers to push things forward.
