Bloodborne is finally playable on PCs, thanks to the power of emulation – fuelled by a group of passionate fans. The ShadPS4 emulator has made rapid progress in the past few months, going from a proof-of-concept to actually being able to boot and play PS4 games at decent framerates.
Sony’s beloved PlayStation 4 exclusive, Bloodborne, has always been a fan favorite ever since its 2015 release – and is considered by many to be the best FromSoftware game to date.
It should come as no surprise that one of the most anticipated developments in the emulation scene has been getting the game to run on PCs. Progress has been increasingly rapid, with the devs managing to get Bloodborne almost entirely playable on all sorts of PC hardware – including a Steam Deck.
How to install and play Bloodborne on PC
- The latest nightly branch of ShadPS4 is recommended. This version of shadPS4 does not require any additional hacks and/or patches to get the game up and running.
- Download the QT version of the program (non-QT versions lack a GUI) for your respective platform (Windows/macOS/Linux).
- Currently, Linux builds on the main branch are broken. Try this fork for now.
- Once downloaded, run the ShadPS4 emulator, and select the directory to install your PS4 dumps into (one time process).
- Once within the GUI, head to File > Install Packages (PKG) and select your dumped PlayStation 4 copy of Bloodborne. Once completed, select and install the v1.09 update file as well. Make sure the files contain the same Title ID (CUSA….).
- Close the emulator, and head to the directory where you stored the executable.
- A ‘user’ folder should be generated in this very location.
- Within the user folder, locate the ‘sys_modules’ subfolder. Copy over your PS4 sysmodules into this folder. This step is optional, but can have benefits in performance and stability.
- Restart ShadPS4 and double click on the Bloodborne game banner to boot into the game, and begin playing.
Make sure to update your ShadPS4 installation regularly. To update, head to ShadPS4 settings > Update.
The following sys_modules are recommended to have on your install (in the /user/sys_modules folder of your ShadPS4 install)
- libSceNgs2.sprx
- libSceLibcInternal.sprx
- libSceDiscMap.sprx
- libSceRtc.sprx
- libSceJpegEnc.sprx
- libSceJson2.sprx
- libSceJson.sprx
- libSceFiber.sprx
- libSceUlt.sprx
How to add Bloodborne to Steam
- Fire up the Steam desktop client.
- Click on Games > Add a non-steam game to library , and navigate to the folder where you placed the ShadPS4 executable. Select it and confirm the same.
- A new entry should be added to your Steam Library, with the file name on it.
- Simply launch the emulator from Steam to begin playing.
- For those on the Steam Deck, try using SteamGridDB via DeckyLoader to add and adjust the game cover art to your liking.
Before you start playing Bloodborne on PC
While Bloodborne technically runs on PC, it still is in an early stage of emulation, and is prone to many visual glitches, artifacts and crashes. One of the major problems plaguing the current builds is the presence of a memory leak, which slowly eats up system RAM over time – causing the application to crash at times.
The emulator is still a work-in-progress, and as such has steep system requirements for most titles. Do not expect to be able to run Bloodborne without strong desktop PC hardware.
Additionally, a jailbroken PS4 is mandatory for grabbing the PKG and sys module files. A great tutorial by Modded Warfare to do the same can be found linked here.
Common issues, along with tips and tricks
- The player character may randomly jump and sprint slowly when the framerate goes over 60 FPS.
- Try setting the internal resolution to 720p via the ‘Cheats and Patches’ menu. This should allow for a smoother experience with slower memory leaks.
- You may encounter rainbow textures pop up occasionally.
- Sound is missing.
- You may often notice abnormally high usage in RAM which may result in stutter and crashes.
- Vertex explosions; can be fixed by equipping a helmet that covers the character’s face or by teleporting/heading to the main menu.
- Character Creation can crash the game.
- VRAM and RAM leaks are persistent.
Additionally, you can also choose to browse the Nexusmods forum for PC-specific mods to further enhance your experience. These include Xbox controller specific layouts, ReShade presets and more.
You can also use Patches (Right Click Bloodborne > Cheats/Patches) to further fine tune your experience. Experiment and try out the various options.
The state of PS4 emulation is in a very fascinating position currently, and more updates are sure to follow, which should help preserve these classics from clutches of exclusivity.
