sp00nznet / ps3recomp

# ps3recomp
### *Because the Cell processor deserves a second life*
> Static recompilation runtime libraries for PlayStation 3 titles.
> Turn PS3 binaries into native executables. No emulator required.
**Join the sp00nznet recomp Discord** — the
community hub for sp00nznet's recomp projects, where ps3recomp development
happens in the open. Good place to ask questions, show a port you are working
on, or find out what people are stuck on before you duplicate the effort.
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## What Is This?
**ps3recomp** is an open-source toolkit that provides the runtime libraries, system stubs, and analysis tools needed to **statically recompile PlayStation 3 games into native PC executables**.
Instead of interpreting or dynamically recompiling PowerPC/SPU instructions at runtime (what emulators like RPCS3 do brilliantly), we take the opposite approach: **translate everything ahead of time** into C/C++ that compiles with your favorite compiler on any modern platform.
This is the same philosophy behind:
- N64Recomp (N64 -> native)
- UnleashedRecomp (Xbox 360 -> native)
- PS2Recomp (PS2 -> native)
- burnout3 (Original Xbox -> native)
- ReXGlue (Xbox 360 -> native)
- AnyPS5 (PS5 -> native)
...but for the PS3's glorious, terrifying **Cell Broadband Engine**.
## Why PS3?
The PlayStation 3 has over **3,000 titles** and some of the most beloved games ever made. RPCS3 has done heroic work making ~70% of the library playable through emulation, but static recompilation offers something different:
- **Native performance** — no runtime translation overhead
- **Lower hardware requirements** — runs on mid-range PCs
- **Moddability** — recompiled C/C++ is infinitely more hackable than PPC binaries
- **Preservation** — native ports survive long after emulators stop being maintained
- **Portability** — the output is C/C++, so it can target any platform a compiler does (see platform support for where the runtime actually stands today)
## Platform support
CI builds and tests every row on every pull request: Windows (clang-cl), macOS
arm64, Linux (GCC and Clang), and Linux with the Vulkan backend on lavapipe
under the validation layer. A green check means the runtime built and the tests
passed. It does not mean a game ran; the last row is the only one that claims
that.
| | Windows | macOS (arm64) | Linux |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runtime library builds | yes | yes | yes |
| Lifter test suites + C unit tests | yes | yes | yes |
| Render backend | D3D12 | Metal | Vulkan (opt-in); null (headless, CI) |
| Runs a recompiled game, in this tree | **yes** | **no** | **no** |
**What stops macOS and Linux running a title is the PPU boot scaffold.**
`ppu_loader.cpp`, `boot_main.cpp` and the HLE dispatch are compiled per game,
not into the library. They compile on POSIX with zero errors (a CI ratchet
keeps it that way) and the frame clock runs there, but no title has yet been
booted to gameplay from this tree on either OS.
**The renderers are further along than that.** `ps3recomp_host` drives cellG