ARMSX2 2.9.3: PS2 emulation on Android goes VR

The ARMSX2 2.9.3 PS2 emulator adds a VR mode for phone headsets, speeds up Shadow of the Colossus and finally explains why a game won't start.


A big update for the PS2 on mobile

The ARMSX2 team released on November 9, 2026 version 2.9.3 of its PS2 emulator, derived from PCSX2 for ARM processors. It comes as an Android APK, in four variants depending on the Android version (a "legacy" one for ARMv8.0 chips from Android 8), and as an AppImage for ARM64 Linux. The code is under the GPL-3.0 license.


What's new

• a side-by-side VR mode for headsets you slide your phone into, with adjustable picture size, distance and height; it is played with a controller;
• much clearer messages when a game won't start: missing BIOS, a PS1 BIOS (such as the ps1_rom.bin copied from a PS3) or a graphics driver that is too old;
• a list of graphics drivers limited to those for your chip: Turnip for Adreno, MaliSX2 for Mali, and MdiEx added for Exynos;
• adjustable touch stick travel from 50 to 250%, named DNS entries, and every new setting translated into the app's 19 languages.

Faster and lighter

• the shadows in Shadow of the Colossus take about a third less GPU time per frame; Stuntman gains 14% and Spider-Man 3 5% on a Retroid Pocket Flip 2, by the team's measurements;
• Gran Turismo 4 moves its sound to a separate thread, and Jak 3 avoids up to 274 clears per frame;
• less memory used: about 58 MB less in a God of War II scene;
• automatic progressive scan works in Burnout 3, and RetroAchievements move to rcheevos 12.5.

What you need

An ARM64 Android phone or handheld, the BIOS from your PS2 and your own games. Download the APK only from the project's GitHub page. To choose your emulators, see our guide to emulation on Android. The same team develops ARMSX3 for the PS3, whose version 1.6 brought the XMB to Android.


Sources: ARMSX2 (GitHub) · Version 2.9.3 (GitHub)