README.md
Features | Downloading and Running | Building | Disclaimers
Latest Builds for Windows 10/11 (x64/ARM64), Linux (AppImage x64/ARM32/ARM64), and macOS (13.3+ Universal): https://github.com/stenzek/duckstation/releases/tag/latest
Discord Server: https://www.duckstation.org/discord.html
DuckStation is an simulator/emulator of the Sony PlayStation(TM) console, focusing on playability, speed, and long-term maintainability. The goal is to be as accurate as possible while maintaining performance suitable for low-end devices. "Hack" options are discouraged, the default configuration should support all playable games with only some of the enhancements having compatibility issues.
A PS1 or PS2 "BIOS" ROM image is required to to start the emulator and to play games. You can use an image from any hardware version or region, although mismatching game regions and BIOS regions may have compatibility issues. A ROM image is not provided with the emulator for legal reasons, you should dump this from your own console using Caetla or other means.
DuckStation features a fully-featured frontend built using Qt, as well as a fullscreen/TV UI based on Dear ImGui.
<p align="center"> </p>Other features include:
Binaries of DuckStation for Windows x64/ARM64, Linux x86_64/ARM32/ARM64 (in AppImage format), and macOS Universal Binaries are available via GitHub Releases and are automatically built with every commit/push.
As per the terms of CC-BY-NC-ND, redistribution of unmodified releases and code is permitted. However, we would prefer if you linked to https://www.duckstation.org/ instead. Please note that pre-configured settings and packages are considered modifications.
For x86 machines (most systems), you will need a CPU that supports the SSE4.1 instruction set for the "normal" build. This includes all Intel CPUs manufactured after 2007, and AMD CPUs manufactured after 2011. If you have a CPU that is older, you will need to download the "SSE2" build from the releases page, which has lower performance but still supports these CPUs.
The main releases page is limited to the last 30 releases due to automatic updater limitations. Older releases can be downloaded from https://github.com/duckstation/old-releases/releases.
The automatic updater in DuckStation has two channels: "Stable" and "Preview".
By default, the updater will track the channel you downloaded from. You can change the channel in Settings -> Interface -> Updates.
DuckStation requires Windows 10/11, specifically version 1809 or newer. If you are still using Windows 7/8/8.1, DuckStation will not run on your operating system. Running these operating systems in 2026 should be considered a security risk, and I would recommend updating to something which receives vendor support. If you must use an older operating system, v0.1-5624 is the last version which will run. But do not expect to receive any assistance, these builds are no longer supported.
Windows builds are provided in two formats:
To use the installer, simply download the installer from the releases page, run it, and follow the prompts.
The installer is still a new addition, so if you encounter issues please let us know via Discord.
To use the archive or portable installation, follow these steps:
duckstation-windows-arm64-release.zip instead.portable.txt in the same directory as the executable.duckstation-qt-x64-ReleaseLTCG.exe. Follow the Setup Wizard to get started.If you get an error about vcruntime140_1.dll being missing, you will need to update your Visual C++ runtime. You can do that from this page: https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads. Specifically, you want the x64 runtime, which can be downloaded from https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/vc_redist.x64.exe.
DuckStation is provided for x86_64/ARM32/ARM64 Linux in AppImage formats.
The AppImages require a distribution equivalent to Ubuntu 22.04 or newer to run.
DuckStation-arm64.AppImage.chmod a+x on the downloaded AppImage -- following this step, the AppImage can be run like a typical executable. Alternatively, in your file manager of choice, enable execute permissions via the file properties dialog.If you were previously using the Flatpak package, to migrate your data from the Flatpak to the AppImage, you can run the following command:
mv ~/.var/app/org.duckstation.DuckStation/config/duckstation ~/.local/share
You will need to re-add your game directories after switching to the AppImage.
Universal macOS builds are provided for both x86_64 (Intel) and ARM64 (Apple Silicon).
macOS Ventura (13.3) is required, as this is also the minimum requirement for Qt.
To download:
DuckStation.app, optionally moving it to your desired location first.If you receive a message about the app being from an unidentified developer:
Unfortunately this is required as Apple requires code signing for apps to be run without warnings, and I do not have a code signing certificate since a yearly cost is out of the question for a project which brings in zero revenue.
You will need a device with armv7 (32-bit ARM), AArch64 (64-bit ARM), or x86_64 (64-bit x86). 64-bit is preferred, the requirements are higher for 32-bit, you'll probably want at least a 1.5GHz CPU.
Download from Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.stenzek.duckstation
No support is provided for the Android app, it is free and your expectations should be in line with that. Please do not email me about issues about it, or ask for help, you will be ignored.
To use:
If you have an external controller, you will need to map the buttons and sticks in settings.
A number of PAL region games use LibCrypt protection, requiring additional CD subchannel information to run properly. libcrypt not functioning usually manifests as hanging or crashing, but can sometimes affect gameplay too, depending on how the game implemented it.
For these games, make sure that the CD image and its corresponding SBI (.sbi) file have the same name and are placed in the same directory. DuckStation will automatically load the SBI file when it is found next to the CD image.
For example, if your disc image was named Spyro3.cue, you would place the SBI file in the same directory, and name it Spyro3.sbi.
CHD images with built-in subchannel information are also supported.
If you are playing directly from a disc and your CD/DVD drive does not support subchannel reading, or has a skew with the returned SubQ, you can place the SBI file in the subchannels directory under the user directory, with the serial or title of the game.
DuckStation ships with a built-in cheat and patch database, both provided by the community. Contributions to these are welcome at https://github.com/duckstation/chtdb.
Each release includes the latest version of the database, however you are free to manually update to the latest version as well.
Requirements:
git clone https://github.com/stenzek/duckstation.git.deps-windows-x64.7z file, and deps-windows-arm64.7z if you want to cross-compile for ARM64. Extract these archives to dep\prebuilt.duckstation.sln in the root (recommended), or "Open Folder" for CMake build (not recommended/supported).bin/x64.duckstation-qt-x64-Release.exe or whichever config you used.Ubuntu/Debian package names:
autoconf automake build-essential clang cmake curl extra-cmake-modules git libasound2-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev libdbus-1-dev libdecor-0-dev libegl-dev libevdev-dev libfontconfig-dev libfreetype-dev libgtk-3-dev libgudev-1.0-dev libharfbuzz-dev libinput-dev libopengl-dev libpipewire-0.3-dev libpulse-dev libssl-dev libudev-dev libwayland-dev libx11-dev libx11-xcb-dev libxcb1-dev libxcb-composite0-dev libxcb-cursor-dev libxcb-damage0-dev libxcb-glx0-dev libxcb-icccm4-dev libxcb-image0-dev libxcb-keysyms1-dev libxcb-present-dev libxcb-randr0-dev libxcb-render0-dev libxcb-render-util0-dev libxcb-shape0-dev libxcb-shm0-dev libxcb-sync-dev libxcb-util-dev libxcb-xfixes0-dev libxcb-xinput-dev libxcb-xkb-dev libxext-dev libxkbcommon-x11-dev libxrandr-dev libxss-dev libtool lld llvm nasm ninja-build pkg-config zlib1g-dev
Fedora package names:
alsa-lib-devel autoconf automake brotli-devel clang cmake dbus-devel egl-wayland-devel extra-cmake-modules fontconfig-devel gcc-c++ gtk3-devel libavcodec-free-devel libavformat-free-devel libavutil-free-devel libcurl-devel libdecor-devel libevdev-devel libICE-devel libinput-devel libSM-devel libswresample-free-devel libswscale-free-devel libX11-devel libXau-devel libxcb-devel libXcomposite-devel libXcursor-devel libXext-devel libXfixes-devel libXft-devel libXi-devel libxkbcommon-devel libxkbcommon-x11-devel libXpresent-devel libXrandr-devel libXrender-devel libXScrnSaver-devel libtool lld llvm make mesa-libEGL-devel mesa-libGL-devel nasm ninja-build openssl-devel patch pcre2-devel perl-Digest-SHA pipewire-devel pulseaudio-libs-devel systemd-devel wayland-devel xcb-util-cursor-devel xcb-util-devel xcb-util-errors-devel xcb-util-image-devel xcb-util-keysyms-devel xcb-util-renderutil-devel xcb-util-wm-devel xcb-util-xrm-devel zlib-devel
git clone https://github.com/stenzek/duckstation.git, cd duckstation.deps-linux-x64.tar.xz file, and the cross variants if you want to cross-compile for ARM. Extract these archives to dep\prebuilt.build-release, run cmake -B build-release -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=clang -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=clang++ -DCMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS_INIT="-fuse-ld=lld" -DCMAKE_MODULE_LINKER_FLAGS_INIT="-fuse-ld=lld" -DCMAKE_SHARED_LINKER_FLAGS_INIT="-fuse-ld=lld" -G Ninja. If you want a release (optimized) build, include -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION=ON.ninja -C build-release./build-release/bin/duckstation-qt.Requirements:
git clone https://github.com/stenzek/duckstation.git. deps-macos-universal.tar.xz file. Extract the archives to dep\prebuilt.cmake -Bbuild-release -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION=ON.cmake --build build-release --parallel.bin/DuckStation.app.The "User Directory" is where you should place your BIOS images, where settings are saved to, and memory cards/save states are saved by default. An optional SDL game controller database file can be also placed here.
This is located in the following places depending on the platform you're using:
AppData\Local\DuckStation (old installs will use Documents\DuckStation).$XDG_DATA_HOME/duckstation, or ~/.local/share/duckstation.~/Library/Application Support/DuckStation.So, if you were using Linux, you would place your BIOS images in ~/.local/share/duckstation/bios. This directory will be created upon running DuckStation for the first time.
If you wish to use a "portable" build, where the user directory is the same as where the executable is located, create an empty file named portable.txt in the same directory as the DuckStation executable.
A shortcut to open the user directory is available by selecting Open Data Directory from the Tools menu.
DuckStation allows you to override certain resources by placing files in the resources subdirectory of the user directory. This includes images and sound effects (e.g. menu navigation/achievement unlock). Please refer to https://github.com/stenzek/duckstation/wiki/Resource-Overrides for more information.
Your keyboard or game controller can be used to simulate a variety of PlayStation controllers. Controller input is supported through DInput, XInput, and SDL backends and can be changed through Settings -> Controllers.
To bind your input device, go to Settings -> Controllers, and select the virtual controller you want to map. Automatic mapping handles the majority of controllers. However, if you need to manually bind a controller, click the box below the button/axis name, and press the key or button on your input device that you wish to bind to.
DuckStation releases ship with a database of game controller mappings for the SDL controller backend, courtesy of https://github.com/mdqinc/SDL_GameControllerDB. The included gamecontrollerdb.txt file can be found in the resources subdirectory of the DuckStation program directory.
If you are experiencing issues binding your controller with the SDL controller backend, you may need to add a custom mapping to the database file. Make a copy of gamecontrollerdb.txt and place it in your user directory (or directly in the program directory, if running in portable mode) and then follow the instructions in the SDL_GameControllerDB repository for creating a new mapping. Add this mapping to the new copy of gamecontrollerdb.txt and your controller should then be recognized properly.
Bindings for controllers and hotkeys can be changed in Settings -> Controllers.
Controller 1:
Hotkeys:
Icon by icons8: https://icons8.com/icon/74847/platforms.undefined.short-title
"PlayStation" and "PSX" are registered trademarks of Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe Limited. This project is not affiliated in any way with Sony Interactive Entertainment.