Devran Cosmo Uenal successfully executed several PlayStation 5 titles on an Xbox Series X console using a tool called PS5X. Uenal booted the PlayStation 5 version of Quake II on the Xbox hardware on 8 September.
Three additional PlayStation 5 games were also made functional on the Xbox Series X during the testing process. The current software suite includes GEX Trilogy, Hellboy: Web of Wyrd, Marvel Cosmic Invasion, and Quake II.
Footage from Uenal shows Quake II running at a frame rate of approximately 25 to 45 frames per second. PS5X operates as a compatibility layer that translates everything to DirectX because Vulkan is unavailable.
The tool is currently only accessible through the official Developer Mode of the Xbox. Microsoft restricts games in Developer Mode to 5GB of memory, while retail Xbox Series X games can utilize 13.5GB of the 16GB total memory.
Because of these limits, PS5X can only access about 37% of the memory available to a standard Xbox game. Apps in the Developer Mode are further restricted to 1GB of memory.
Uenal describes PS5X as a research project designed for running PS5 homebrew and game backups in Developer Mode. The project does not include PS5 firmware or decryption keys.
No evidence exists of PS5X successfully running a PlayStation 5 exclusive title. PS5X is not available as a public download at this time.
Microsoft blocked emulators from the normal retail mode of the Xbox in 2023. Users who found ways to bypass the emulator restriction faced 15-day suspensions from Microsoft.
Both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles feature 8 Zen 2 CPU cores. The RPCS3 team identifies KytyPS5 and SharpEmu as the two active open-source PS5 emulators capable of booting games.
Yuzu settled a lawsuit from Nintendo in 2024 for $2.4 million.
