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

 

[Jayro]

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

Maybe so, but that doesn't make it any less true.

 

[CMDreamer]

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.

You're generalizing there, and that's the worst support you could use as an argument.

 

[ChalkLines]

Sounds pretty darn shady to me and I'd never install it. Do PS3 emulators even run PS3 games well on a phone or tablet anyway? Don't know as I've never tried.

 

[Exnor]

I smell a scam here.

 

[MPRTwice]

I can send him 2000.00 monopoly U.S. dollars and he would release the code, right? Ten 200.00 monopoly U.S. dollars from the board game can cover that easily.

 

[raxadian]

Considering how powerful your PC has to be to run a PS3 emulator this thing would only have been using for those "Gamer" Android phones that stop getting updates quite fast anyway.

 

[SonyUSA]

Github link is dead

 

[ShadowOne333]

Github link is dead

It was since I posted the article
That's why I added the Archive link too

 

[Smoker1]

It was since I posted the article
That's why I added the Archive link too

Archive Link to the APK is not there. It will show everything else, but when you try to grab the APK, it says it did not have the Archive Link for it.

How is the RPCS3 APK ? Worth it, or no? Anyone got the Link?

 

[YuseiFD]

Lol this is shady af, he's asking for donations for something we don't even know it exists, so he could just take the money and run.

 

[daicahuyoi]

Github is down

 

[SDA]

The fact that the developer is Chinese already scares me.

 

[AlexMCS]

thanks for covering the aps3e Emulator to download the emulator please visit Aps3e .NET

LMAO there is actually a site for it.

 

[Robert Newbie]

Unfortunately, the emu scene is prone to stories like these. I believe DamonPS2 was a similar case wherein the dev quickly ported the code of PCSX2 to Android and tried to monetize the app. Based on the OP, this is another instance of that pattern.

There are usually three red flags. First, the source code is closed or partially closed. Second, the compatibility is high despite being a first release. Third, the dev requests money.

 

[YoureALoser]

Rpcs3 released an ARM port, so it really is not surprising that a China man used the source code for profit, that is what China does. Has China ever invented anything? As far as I'm aware they're only known for stealing intellectual property & getting away with it.

 

[rorodobbs]

at least geohotz is a mach 9 narcessist ya know. Then some the white hats in the scene be like that and you wonder how they are employable.

 

[bonkmaykr]

Software should be free as in freedom.

Selling work you took from someone else is one thing.

Violating your user's mandatory rights to hide what you stole is literally a crime.

 

[Robert Newbie]

at least geohotz is a mach 9 narcessist ya know. Then some the white hats in the scene be like that and you wonder how they are employable.

Man, "GeoHot," I haven't heard that name in a while. He posted the PS3 jailbreak code, and Sony's "Kevin Butler" account retweeted the sequence. 7th gen strange, let me tell you.

That pic of GeoHot with the shocked look on his face was all over the scene, after that. It was noteworthy for showing cartoonish surprise, when one would expect anger or indifferent determination.

 

[SonyUSA]

Man, "GeoHot," I haven't heard that name in a while. He posted the PS3 jailbreak code, and Sony's "Kevin Butler" account retweeted the sequence. 7th gen strange, let me tell you.

That pic of GeoHot with the shocked look on his face was all over the scene, after that. It was noteworthy for showing cartoonish surprise, when one would expect anger or indifferent determination.

He's been making devices you hook to your car that make it self driving for the past few years, I have one and really love it, but I think it's sort of a dead project now...

 

[raxadian]

Has China ever invented anything?

Fireworks, gunpowder, noddles... and more.