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A new PS3 emulator "aPS3e" released for Android... but with a caveat

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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:

AniLeo said:
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
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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.

:arrow: Source
:arrow: aPS3e GitHub repository
:arrow: aPS3e repo saved backup at Archive.org
 
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Reactions: Aep, jeffyTheHomebrewer, FFTW and 38 others
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YoureALoser said:
Has China ever invented anything? As far as I'm aware they're only known for stealing intellectual property & getting away with it.
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Paper was invented in China.
Robert Newbie said:
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.
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Learning about that case after the fact when I was so young I didn’t even know why PSN was down all those years back has been so nuts, even this bit of info is funny.
I gotta go look cuz I’d love to see the picture, especially knowing the hacker behind it had the nards to make THIS while getting sued by SONY:
Shame he had to agree to a settlement & to never even breathe in the same room as another Sony device ever since…
 
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Kitocco said:
Learning about that case after the fact when I was so young I didn’t even know why PSN was down all those years back has been so nuts, even this bit of info is funny.
I gotta go look cuz I’d love to see the picture, especially knowing the hacker behind it had the nards to make THIS while getting sued by SONY:
Shame he had to agree to a settlement & to never even breathe in the same room as another Sony device ever since…
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I had to read up on everything. The whole scenario sounds intense. GeoHot and one other individual got sued by Sony, and a group launched an attack on Sony's servers. As a result, PSN was down for three days. Sony followed up with announcements and more downtime. Reportedly, Sony offered customers two free games, identity theft protection, and 30 days of PSN for free.

Looking at the comments, people really seemed to like GeoHot's rap.
 
i think sharing source code just isnt in fashion right now and not perceived as a "cool thing" to do anymore.

Cooler3D, Talreth, rashevskyv and Gary Bowser from Team Xecuter didnt share the source code either and theyre still cool people. I guess trendsetters just set the example and others follow.
 
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that's also what andstation 3 was doing. using rpcs3 and termux code to run. except they don't ask for big bucks and their website looks goofy
they do use github for files so yeah there's that
and my god those replies on the issue, thank goodness they were massdisliked
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I tried it out on a bare tablet. I couldn't get a single game to load. It kept crashing on load. This is on a Snapdragon 865 with 8 gb ram. Anyone else?
 
"Hm, but what if disguised this emulator as my own cooking... ho ho ho delightful devilish Aenu"
 

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Nakamichi said:
i think sharing source code just isnt in fashion right now and not perceived as a "cool thing" to do anymore.

Cooler3D, Talreth, rashevskyv and Gary Bowser from Team Xecuter didnt share the source code either and theyre still cool people. I guess trendsetters just set the example and others follow.
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I'm like 99% certain that Gary Bowser has never even seen the source code. All he did was run a website that advertised the crap out of it, and got kickbacks for any orders placed through links on his site. That, and create/support online libraries of pirated games.
 
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