Someone Turned a PS5 Into a Linux Gaming PC, and It Actually Works
Someone Turned a PS5 Into a Linux Gaming PC, and It Actually Works
https://itsfoss.com/news/run-linux-on-ps5/
Publish Date: 2026-04-30 06:12:00
Source Domain: itsfoss.com
Linux gaming has been on a great trajectory these past few years.
Proton turned a massive chunk of the Steam library into playable Linux titles thanks to Wine as its backbone, and purpose-built Linux gaming consoles are now a product category that actually exists.
We recently covered the Playnix Console, a $1,179 Linux gaming machine from the EmuDeck team that ships with a custom Arch-based OS and boots straight into Steam’s gaming mode.
Today, we have a project that lets you run a Linux-powered operating system on Sony’s PlayStation 5 console.
Running Linux on a PS5?
Sourced from Andy Nguyen.
Andy Nguyen, the developer behind this, first posted about him running Linux on the PS5 back in March, where he demonstrated playing GTA V Enhanced with Ray Tracing enabled.
More recently, he posted that his project “ps5-linux” was live on GitHub, allowing gamers to turn their PS5 (non-slim) devices into a fully functioning Linux gaming PC.
You see, the PS5 does not run a Linux kernel. Sony’s operating system is built on a heavily modified version of FreeBSD, which is a separate Unix-like OS altogether. What ps5-linux delivers is a genuine Linux port, not some tweak on top of what was already there.
In terms of what you actually get, it’s a full desktop Linux environment. The PS5’s 8-core, 16-thread CPU can be pushed to 3.5 GHz, the GPU to 2.23 GHz, and HDMI video output goes up to 4K at 60Hz. Steam runs on it, providing you with access to PC games and settings that Sony’s own OS doesn’t offer.
There are some gaps though; the PS5’s onboard Bluetooth and networking hardware currently have no Linux driver support. You’ll need a USB Ethernet or WLAN adapter for internet access and a Bluetooth dongle if you want to use a DualSense controller wirelessly.
It’s also not a persistent install as the console’s internal SSD is left completely untouched, so bricking your PS5 isn’t really a concern. The trade-off is having to re-run the exploit from scratch…
