Linux running on a PS5 turns it into a Steam Machine that plays PC games

Based on the work of researcher Andy Nguyen, aka TheFlow, you can turn a PlayStation 5 into a Steam Machine-like device that runs Linux as its operating system. However, it's not an easy mod, and there are several caveats to getting Linux up and running on a PS5. According to a new deep dive into Linux on PlayStation 5 by Digital Foundry, it only works on a launch-era PlayStation 5 running system software (firmware) up to version 4.5.

As that firmware dates back to December 2021, finding a Linux-ready PlayStation 5 console to play Steam games could be quite difficult. From there, PS5 Linux leverages an exploit to boot the operating system from a USB stick, which can also be installed in the console's M.2 SSD expansion slot to boost speeds.

With access to the Ubuntu 26.04 LTS distribution, PS5 Linux offers 15GB of memory, all eight cores of the Zen 2 processor boosted to 3.5 GHz, and all 36 CUs of the RDNA 2 GPU clocked at 2.23 GHz. The tool also provides access to cooling, with the option to boost fan speeds to compensate for overclocking. And with that, although the output resolution was locked to 1080p, Digital Foundry was able to test gaming performance and compare that to the same games running natively on the console.

Looking at Black Myth Wukong running with PC 'High' settings, the game runs essentially the same on PS5 Linux or PS5 Native modes with the Performance preset hitting around 55 FPS. As the benchmarks and tests were limited to games that run at 1080p on the PS5 console (and then upscale to 4K), the pool of compatible titles was limited; however, for the most part, games like Crimson Desert and Pragmata hit similar frame-rates, however, due to the Proton compatibility layer to play PC games and memory management issues that seem to come from booting into Linux on a PS5 console, there are stuttering issues and artifacting that isn't present when playing games natively.

Ultimately, this is an interesting experiment that opens the door to emulation and even to playing PlayStation 3 games like Bloodborne with higher-quality settings.