Red Dead Redemption ‘works’ for the first time on PlayStation 3 emulator

The developers of the open source PS3 emulator RPCS3, which works on Windows and Linux, have managed to run Red Dead Redemption with a frame rate of 3 to 15 fps. A month ago, that was a single frame per second. However, the game is not yet playable.

The makers have published a YouTube video showing their progress. Although many graphical errors can still be seen, it is at least recognizable that it is RDR. According to the team, that’s quite an improvement, as it kept displaying the main menu at 1fps a month ago. It is now possible to start the game and control the main character John Marston, although he is sometimes invisible. The improvements are due to better graphics emulation and an updated llvm compiler.

The team isn’t saying when the game will actually be playable, but given current progress, that probably won’t be too long. It is already possible to play Red Dead Redemption on PC via Sony’s streaming service PlayStation Now. The game originally came out for consoles only.

Rockstar announced in May that sequel Red Dead Redemption 2 will be released in the spring of 2018. Initially it was planned that the release would take place this year, but apparently the developers need more time. Rockstar has not yet said anything about a PC version.

The video in question, shot on an i7 4790K at 4.9GHz