RPCS3
Shares rank 14 of 20 emulators by recommenders
Free PS3 emulator that people praise for steadily better performance and compatibility, though it is not yet fully compatible.
Free PS3 emulator that people praise for steadily better performance and compatibility, though it is not yet fully compatible.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 83%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Steady gains in performance and compatibility
“I guess I view 75% compatibility of the most oddball console architecture ever to be fairly successful.”
Comment from 4 Aug 2026 in “Xbox goes down. You can't play games you own on disc” “RPCS3 has come a long way in the last few of years, both in performance and compatibility.”
Comment from 4 Aug 2026 in “Xbox goes down. You can't play games you own on disc” “look at how good RPCS3 is now”
Comment from 4 Aug 2026 in “Xbox goes down. You can't play games you own on disc” Impressive, usable emulation quality
“just how impressive the RPCS3 emulator is”
Comment from 11 May 2026 in “PS3 Emulator Devs Politely Ask That People Stop Flooding It with AI PRs” “look at how good RPCS3 is now”
Comment from 4 Aug 2026 in “Xbox goes down. You can't play games you own on disc” “Worse than RPCS3, but usable”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Steam Machine”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Compatibility still incomplete
“I guess I view 75% compatibility of the most oddball console architecture ever to be fairly successful.”
Comment from 4 Aug 2026 in “Xbox goes down. You can't play games you own on disc” “It may reach that point some day, but it's not there yet.”
Comment from 4 Aug 2026 in “Xbox goes down. You can't play games you own on disc”
Other emulators people recommend
The four most recommended other emulators, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
See all 20 emulators, rankedWhat people said
All 8 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Platform emulators can't be locked-in: MAME, Dolphin, RPCS3, Eden, etc offer user freedom”
“I guess I view 75% compatibility of the most oddball console architecture ever to be fairly successful.”
“It may reach that point some day, but it's not there yet.”
“RPCS3 has come a long way in the last few of years, both in performance and compatibility.”
“look at how good RPCS3 is now”
“It made so much sense to treat it like that. That move while complicated removes a lot of potential performance issues.”
“just how impressive the RPCS3 emulator is”
“Worse than RPCS3, but usable”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.