Jailbroken PS5 Plays PS2 Discs via Homebrew Emulator, With Major Trade-offs

PS5SX2 is built on PCSX2, a long-running open-source PS2 emulator. Engadget reported that the software offers 4K upscaling, widescreen support, 60fps patches and HD texture packs. Some games can use fan-run servers for online play, and achievements appear like PS5 trophies. The report described the package as surprisingly polished.

Not every disc will work. The PS5 can read DVDs and Blu-rays but not CDs. Some PS2 games shipped on CD-ROM, including early or smaller releases and titles such as Rez and Tekken Tag Tournament, so they are incompatible directly. Those games should still run if users rip them on a PC and copy the files over; they cannot be played directly from the disc. Incompatible discs can be identified by their blue undersides. The platform’s most enduring titles, including God of War, Grand Theft Auto III and Metal Gear Solid 2, shipped on DVDs, Engadget reported.

The bigger catch is jailbreaking. Once a PS5 is jailbroken, it cannot update firmware, because an update would patch the security hole the jailbreak depends on; there is no downgrade path. The main public jailbreak, Relapse, works on PlayStation 5 System Software up to version 13.60. Sony patched the relevant exploit with version 14.00 in mid-September and released 14.10 on Oct. 1. In mid-October, Sony reportedly began blocking PSN sign-ins for any console on firmware before 14.10, meaning a console on 14.00 or later cannot use this method.

If a console is on 13.60, it loses PSN and everything tied to it: online multiplayer, the PlayStation Store and new games that require recent firmware. That could soon matter for Grand Theft Auto VI, which is scheduled to arrive on Nov. 19 and will reportedly require at least firmware 14.10; neither Sony nor Rockstar has confirmed the requirement, Engadget reported.

Newer PS5 firmware will likely be jailbroken in the future, especially as AI tools give homebrew developers new capabilities, and an apparent 14.10 jailbreak has already been teased, according to Engadget. For now, a jailbroken PS5 ends up in a narrow position: it can play PS2 discs but is cut off from the PlayStation Store, online play and newer games. There is not a large audience for turning a $500-plus console into a machine for 20-year-old discs, the report said.

Engadget said better ways to play old PS2 games exist on hardware users already own, including PCs, Steam Decks and Android phones. Emulators on those devices can run titles such as The Simpsons: Hit & Run, Burnout 3: Takedown and SSX 3 without altering a PS5. Sony cannot stop the homebrew scene, but it does not have to; it only needs to make the penalty high enough that most users will not bother, according to the report.

Editor's Summary

A homebrew emulator called PS5SX2 allows a jailbroken PlayStation 5 to run PS2 discs with 4K upscaling, widescreen support and other features, Engadget reported. The method requires users to stay on older firmware, cutting off PSN, the PlayStation Store and newer games, and Sony has moved to block PSN access for consoles on firmware before 14.10. The trade-offs leave the option limited to users willing to sacrifice online services and future software.