Jailbroken PS5: GameCube, Wii, PS2 and Xbox arrive with Porpoise, PS5SX2 and XPSemu

2026 update: Dolphin is coming to the Switch too, with Nezumiiruka 1.0; read on in our news story Nezumiiruka 1.0: the Dolphin emulator on Switch, GameCube and Wii.

After the Switch, the GameCube, the Wii, the PS2 and the original Xbox: in a single week, three native emulators have been released for the jailbroken PS5, Porpoise, PS5SX2 and XPSemu.


Why now

The Relapse exploit, released at the end of September, opened up the PS5 up to firmware 13.60, which covers almost every console. On top of that, developers have recently gained an open-source Vulkan graphics driver for the PS5's AMD chip (RADV, from Mesa). The result: the major open-source PC emulators, written for Vulkan and for x86-64 processors like the PS5's, are being ported much faster than anyone imagined. All three run directly on the console, with no Linux and no streaming from a PC.


Porpoise: the GameCube and the Wii, with Dolphin

Porpoise, by Ruben Ripalda, is built on Dolphin, the reference GameCube and Wii emulator. It installs as a proper PS5 application, with its own interface designed for the TV and the DualSense. Versions have followed one another at a rare pace: 1.0 on 4 October 2026, 2.0 as early as the 5th.

• A “cover flow” library with box art, a memory card manager, per-game settings, and an in-game menu with three save state slots and fast-forward.
• The DualSense used as a Wiimote, gyroscope included, with its microphone and speaker put to use.
• Since 2.0: a more recent version of Dolphin, background shader compilation (less stuttering), 1080p output by default, and support for WiiWare, Virtual Console, channels and Wii homebrew.
• Games are read from internal storage or an exFAT USB drive.

You need a PS5 jailbroken with etaHEN, OnionHEN or Lapy. The project is open source (GPL-3.0), like Dolphin.


PS5SX2: the PS2, with PCSX2

PS5SX2, by Spyros (“sword.pdf”), is a port of PCSX2. Started as a demo in early September, by the end of September it had become the console's most complete emulator:

• Internal resolution up to ×6, 4K output, and image filters (FSR, CRT…). The heaviest games cannot sustain ×6 on a standard PS5, the author warns.
• PCSX2 patches in.pnach format, and thereforewidescreen and 60 frames per second for many games.
• The PS2 network adapter is emulated: SOCOM II can already be played online, on the community servers that replaced Sony's.
• Settings are adjusted from a phone, via a QR code. Memory cards from 8 to 64 MB, multitap for up to four players, texture packs.

108 games have been tested, with performance notes for each. The author reports tests from firmware 6.02 to 12.70. You need the BIOS from your own PS2 (our tutorial hacking your PS2 explains how to dump it) and images of your own discs, in ISO, CHD or CSO.


XPSemu: the original Xbox, with xemu

XPSemu, by ZiZc3, adapts xemu, the open-source emulator for the original Xbox. It is the youngest of the three: an alpha 1, released on 1 October 2026, whose behaviour still varies from game to game.

• Halo 2 runs at 30 frames per second, and between 51 and 60 with a 60 fps patch.
• Fable fluctuates between 22 and 30, Forza Motorsport drops to 15-21 during races.
• The bottleneck is the emulation of the Xbox processor, not the PS5's graphics card, which remains lightly loaded. So future versions have room to improve.

You need a PS5 on firmware 13.60 or lower, kstuff, the XPSemu and ShadowMountPlus tools, as well as the BIOS from your own Xbox and your games in XISO format.


Key takeaways

• Do not update your PS5 if it is on 13.60 or below: firmwares 14.00 and 14.10 close the door.
• These three projects are only a few days old. Expect crashes, and near-daily updates.
• Beware of copies: several repositories are already using the Porpoise name. Use the author's repository, listed below.
• None of the three provides games or BIOS files: they must come from your own consoles and your own discs.

In just a few weeks, the jailbroken PS5 has thus become a complete emulation machine, from the PS2 to the Switch with ProsperoEden. To find out whether your console is affected, follow our tutorial PS5 jailbreak: which firmware, and what really works.


Sources: Porpoise (GitHub) · PS5SX2 (GitHub) · XPSemu (GitHub) · Generation Amiga · Hackaday · Tom’s Hardware