Out of nowhere, a new PlayStation 3 emulator appeared for Android devices by chinese developer Aenu over at GitHub, but although the project is hosted in GitHub, it is not entirely open source.

On February 17th, 2025, the GitHub repository for the aPS3e emulator for Android opened up, offering an "ad-free" and "optimized" solution for PlayStation 3 emulation on a mobile device, and while this is certainly not the first PS3 emulator for Android (given how there are builds of RPCS3 floating around for Android as well), this one has sparked an interesting debate, which more often than not it's usually the case with the release Android-specific emulators.

The important point when it comes to the GitHub repository for the aPS3e emulator, is that, while there's some source code shared publicly, the entirety of the project is not open source, with some aspects of it still being closed-source, and the developer stated in the GitHub repository that the full source code would be released once donations reached $5000 USD, and later on that sum was lowered to $2000 USD.

As if asking for such a big amount of money for releasing the full project is not enough, according to several reports online, the aPS3e emulator is using not one, but two projects in order to bring the PS3 emulation to Android, with the two other projects being RPCS3 and Termux, as some have already data-mined the APK and found code related to both projects, and given how both projects are licensed under GPLv2, any person that works on a public release software of reworked or forked code from any of the two projects must be required to disclose the full source code, without exception.

The very first issue reported to the repository was none other than a direct notice from the RPCS3 Development team, with developer AniLeo asking the developer of aPS3e, Aenu, to fully disclose the source code to properly comply with the GPLv2 license:

Hello,

I am writing in behalf of the RPCS3 development team (https://github.com/rpcs3). This repository distributes binaries based on modified GPLv2 software code from RPCS3 (https://github.com/rpcs3/rpcs3) at https://github.com/aenu/aps3e/releases/tag/0.4-250204.

As such, this is a formal request for you to comply with the GPLv2 licence which RPCS3 is licenced under, and publish the modified RPCS3 source code for your binaries accordingly.

Best Regards,
Ani
rpcs3.net

The aPS3e GitHub repository was still up earlier today, but at the moment of writing it currently only throws a "404" error upon trying to access the repository.

Source
aPS3e GitHub repository
aPS3e repo saved backup at Archive.org

 

[AdenTheThird]

This should make for some interesting moral/investigative debate...

 

[KiiWii]

Asking money for source when it should be free is shady.

 

[Adjule]

This is already leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

That’s not what open-source even means, and yet they twisted it in a way that they want to monetize it.

I don’t want to generalize, but anything Chinese made usually always has some shady undertones backing it, only just unseen.

I’m bitter, that’s what I’m saying.

 

[Jayro]

I don't mind people being paid for their work, but the way the dev is doing it feels... slimy.

 

[masagrator]

Tl;dr they stole the code, rebranded it and wanted to scam people from money... probably.

I guess the kiddo didn't expect it to get big traction so fast.

 

[Purple_Shyguy]

Why shouldn't people be allowed to get money for working on an entire emulator?

 

[Adjule]

Why shouldn't people be allowed to get money for working on an entire emulator?

Donations are fine, but breaking the rules isn’t.

RPCS3, just one of the emulators whose code that aPS3e was taking from taking from, its licenses were clear, the source code must be accessible for all to see, which this dev wasn’t doing.

 

[CMDreamer]

A scam in the open wild, nothing more, nothing less.

[...]

I don’t want to generalize, but anything Chinese made usually always has some shady undertones backing it, only just unseen.

[..]

For being someone not willing to generalize, you did it anyway. I understand it, that's how you've been "educated".

Spoiler: Better explanation here.

(Brainwashed)

You missed the Russians too. -_-

 

[Dimensional]

Wow. Down in a day... even the dev's github account is gone. Won't be missed, and nothing of value was lost.

 

[ZeroFX]

Lmao of course it's chinese, also nothing will happen if he chooses to continue developing this way because he's Chinese so GPL enforcement will be as good as mouth agreements, will get some nerds ruffled at max (which it's kinda funny).

 

[Marc_LFD]

The fact he deleted his account is suspicious, that usually happens when it backfires and it's your only way out.

Hope no one sent him any money.

 

[Noctosphere]

If I were to make a usefull software, but wanted everyone to enjoy it for free, I would probably do something like that.
Make it available for free, open donation, and when it reaches a certain amount, disclose the source code so that other people can improve my software and/or make their own variation.
Except, that's not what happened here, at all...

 

[klark231]

Theres one that wrong. the display is using Surface Flinger and it was only compiled on Termux so it is native. Another funny thing is 90% of people who emulates actually pirates and steal code from game companies and they are the one complaining now about stolen source code.

 

[Bladexdsl]

yet another asshole dev only in it for the money. emulation was supposed to be FREE

 

[chrisrlink]

try that with a nintendo system emulator see how far it gets

 

[klark231]

yet another asshole dev only in it for the money. emulation was supposed to be FREE

Bro the app is free. and since when did emulation supposed to be free. you need to buy games. dump them and use them not download games for free.

 

[Coolsonickirby]

This should make for some interesting moral/investigative debate...

Is there really a moral debate that can be had lol? If the dev published all the RPCS3 code he took and modified to the repo and only made his own code private and locked it behind the donation incentive, then there really wouldn't be a problem. The problem here is that he took others code and didn't abide by the license.

 

[placez]

i couldnt install it on my fold it says my os is to new

 

[VMM]

I don’t want to generalize, but anything Chinese made usually always has some shady undertones backing it, only just unseen.

Not only did it, but showed a lot of prejudice in a single sentence