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What just happened? Compared to classic consoles like the Super NES or PlayStation, emulation of relatively recent machines such as the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One remains in an embryonic state. However, signs of progress are becoming increasingly common. A new Xbox One compatibility layer has emerged that can play several games, and PS4 emulation recently received a burst of enthusiasm surrounding Bloodborne, which has become a primary driving force behind the effort.
The developer behind the PlayStation 4 emulator shadPS4 recently shared footage showing encouraging progress. As modders demonstrate various enhancements on social media, another independent developer announced early work on an Xbox One compatibility layer.
George Moralis worked on some of the most famous emulators for the original PlayStation and PlayStation 2 – PCSX and PCSX2 – and has since turned his attention toward the PS4. Over the last few weeks, he has demonstrated basic, if glitchy, gameplay in several titles. Bloodborne has grabbed the most attention, as tinkerers have begun introducing visual enhancements.
– Boczekek (@Boczekek) September 7, 2024
FromSoftware's Bloodborne is perhaps the most famous game that remains stuck on Sony's console. Despite intense demand, Sony and FromSoftware have never discussed plans to re-release or update the title to take advantage of more recent hardware, leaving it officially playable at a maximum of 1080p and 30fps.
Fans have therefore turned to emulation to make Bloodborne accessible on more platforms. Moralis' emulator, which supports Windows, macOS, and Linux, can run early sections of the game at over 160fps on an RTX 4090. Visual and audio glitches remain, but development appears to be progressing well.
Meanwhile, modders have recently shared their contributions to Moralis' work. Images and clips show Bloodborne running in ultrawide aspect ratio, on a Steam Deck, and with upscaled textures. One user claims to have implemented ray tracing through ReShade.
Introducing XWine1, an Xbox One translation layer for Windows PCs.
– XWine1 (@XWineOne) September 8, 2024
Currently six games are fully playable, with others reaching logos and in-game. More news to come! pic.twitter.com/Du6puJz6Dj
Moralis has also published clips of games like Gravity Rush, Devil May Cry 4, Rock Band 4, and more. Although shadPS4 is a proper emulator, most PS4 "emulators" are actually compatibility layers because the console uses an x86 processor. The same applies to its competitor, the Xbox One, which received a new Windows layer earlier this month.
The developers of the recently announced XWine1 confirmed that six games are fully playable, including Minecraft, Peggle 2, Sonic Mania, Limbo, and Undertale. Many more games can boot to the title screen, like Forza Horizon 2 and 3.
Although a significant portion of Xbox One games received native PC versions, a relative handful, like Halo 5, remain trapped on Microsoft's consoles. Furthermore, the developers confirmed that XWine1 could boot backward-compatible games from the original Xbox and Xbox 360, potentially opening the path to other classic games without PC ports, like the original Red Dead Redemption or Ninja Gaiden Black.