First of all, happy New Year to everyone! I hope that in 2026 you will be very happy and achieve your goals!
As a new year begins, it is worth taking a moment to reflect on what 2025 has meant for the PSX homebrew scene. More than two decades after the original PlayStation left store shelves, Sony’s 32-bit console continues to attract passionate developers who are willing to wrestle with its limitations in order to create something meaningful, ambitious, and often technically astonishing.
What makes 2025 especially notable is not just the number of projects released or updated, but their scope and maturity. This was not a year of small tech demos or experimental prototypes alone. Instead, we saw complete games, large-scale updates, and ports of legendary titles once thought entirely unfeasible on PSX hardware. From psychological horror and narrative-driven adventures to fast-paced platformers and full 3D reimplementations, the scene demonstrated both diversity and confidence.
RELEASED IN 2025
Doki Doki Literature Club! PSX
The iconic psychological visual novel Doki Doki Literature Club! made its way to the original PlayStation in 2025 through this ambitious PSX demake by Soeiz. Designed to resemble the original experience as closely as possible, the project recreates the core narrative structure and presentation within the technical limits of Sony’s 32-bit console.
 |
| As faithful as the original! |
Built using PsyQ and the Nugget SDK, this version runs on real hardware and emulators and offers proper memory card support. Version 0.4 marked a critical milestone, as it fixed numerous long-standing issues and fully implemented save functionality, allowing players to store saves to progress in the game.
Despite these improvements, development is currently halted due to a loss of motivation from the developer. Even so, the latest build stands as a solid and technically impressive adaptation, proving that narrative-heavy visual novels can work surprisingly well on PSX hardware.
You can read more in the original post!
Super Mario 64 PSX
One of the most astonishing projects to surface in 2025, Super Mario 64 PSX attempts the seemingly impossible: running Nintendo’s landmark 3D platformer on original PSX hardware. Enabled by the public release of the original source code, this port is a full reimplementation tailored to the PSX’s very different architecture.
 |
| Super Mario 64 working on PSX - Bob-omb Battlefield level |
The current version is "playable" and far from complete. Issues range from unstable animations and missing areas with proper camera controls to crashes, texture artifacts, audio limitations, and unfinished menus. Even so, the fact that the game runs at all (rendering large 3D environments and maintaining recognizable gameplay) is a remarkable technical achievement. While not yet suitable as a full replacement for the original, this port stands as a historic milestone for PSX homebrew development.
You can read more in the original post!
Sauna
Sauna offers a calm, atmospheric contrast to many action-heavy homebrew titles. Designed as a first-person exploration experience, the game invites players to freely roam a cozy smoke sauna environment using dual-analog controls, which are mandatory for proper gameplay.
 |
| Cozy, but it's scary! |
The project is especially notable for its modern-to-retro workflow. Environments are created using Unity and then converted for PlayStation rendering through PSXSplashEdit, a custom tool that allows modern scene construction while respecting PSX limitations. Additional features include navigation previews, debug fly modes, and extensive developer documentation through a dedicated blog.
Rather than focusing on objectives or challenge, Sauna emphasizes mood, presence, and technical experimentation, making it a unique and refreshing addition to the PSX homebrew library.
You can read more in the original post!
Yume Nikki PS1
Developer: Elias Daler
Release Date: November 2025
Genre: Adventure
While brief, the demo successfully captures the unsettling tone of the original and demonstrates how experimental, atmospheric games can still thrive on PSX. You can follow the development in his Twitter (X) account. Elias is involved in another project mentioned below.
We have to thank Elias for his great work promoting his projects, as he is one of the biggest contributors to the growth of the PSX Homebrew community!
You can read more in the original post!
UPDATED IN 2025
PETSCOP: Restored
Developer: NITROYUASH
Latest Version: 1.3
PETSCOP: Restored is one of the most ambitious and feature-rich PSX homebrew titles to date. Rather than strictly recreating the original YouTube series, the developer redesigned its concepts into a fully playable experience with improved pacing, mechanics, and player agency.
With dynamic lighting, 3D stereo sound, and even an SDK for mod creation (which also received a series of updates this year), PETSCOP: Restored stands as a benchmark for what is possible on PSX when design and technology are carefully aligned.
As you can see, a large number of improvements have been made to a title released in 2024. For this reason, we would like to thank the developer NITROYUASH for what we consider to be the best update to a game released years before for the PSX homebrew community!
You can read more in the original post!
Five Nights at Freddy’s PSX
Developer: Soeiz
Latest Update: May 2025
The original Five Nights at Freddy’s demake received continued support in 2025, refining what was already one of the most complete horror homebrew titles on PlayStation. Updates focused on both presentation and gameplay depth, introducing smoother time transitions, visual improvements to the office, and extensive code cleanup.
A major addition was the scoring system, which evaluates player performance based on power usage, AI difficulty, camera management, and animatronic blocking. With all original jumpscares implemented, two-player support, and an expanded Custom Night mode, FNAF PSX remains a definitive example of a polished PSX horror port.
You can read more in the original post!
Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 PSX
Developer: Soeiz
Latest Update: September 2025
While FNAF 2 was also released on PSX, its last update was released in 2024. The PSX demake of FNAF 3 matured significantly in 2025, culminating in version 1.0, the first fully playable release. All core mechanics are present, including the office, camera system, maintenance panel, enemy behavior, random error logic, and full progression through the nights!
While certain elements (such as minigames and specific UI prompts) were excluded or repurposed, the experience is complete from start to finish. Additional features not found in the original game include two-player support, an expanded Custom Night, easter eggs, and a hidden debug menu.
Despite a known bug occurring after completing Night 5 or 6, the project stands as one of the most faithful and technically PSX horror demakes available.
We hope and encourage developer Soeiz to continue developing PSX projects because he is one of the most active developers with the most appearances this year (the three FNAF titles and the Doki Doki game)!
You can read more in the original post!
Sonic the Hedgehog XA
Developer: luksamuk
Latest Update: August 2025
Sonic XA demostrates that a fully original 2D Sonic game can be built specifically for the PSX. Developed by luksamuk using modern homebrew tools such as PSn00bSDK, the game blends classic Sonic gameplay with PlayStation-specific solutions, all while respecting the spirit of the original Mega Drive/Genesis titles. This game also was presented at SAGE 2025, a showcase to promote Sega fan games!
Sonic XA continued its rapid evolution throughout 2025 with versions 0.5.1 and 0.6. Version 0.5.1 dramatically improved visual quality through off-screen sprite rendering, eliminating distortion, while also upgrading the soundtrack to CD-quality Red Book audio.
Gameplay expanded with proper enemies, bosses, level-specific objects, audio settings, a pause menu, improved memory management, and collectible 1-ups. Version 0.6 pushed even further by introducing Amy Rose as a playable character, complete with unique abilities and animations, unlocked after completing the game.
Additional refinements to hitboxes, boss behavior, visual effects, and menus brought the project closer to a complete commercial-quality platformer, making it one of the most impressive 2D homebrew titles on PSX.
You can read more in the original post!TBA / UPCOMING PROJECTS
Half-Life PSX
Developer: XProger
This highly ambitious project aims to reimplement the Half-Life game for PSX hardware. Rather than relying on traditional loading screens, the game plans to use streaming techniques to load environments dynamically, minimizing interruptions during gameplay.
The developer XProger uses custom tools to import and process original BSP data via Blender, heavily modifying geometry and visibility logic to suit the PSX GPU. Contrary to intuition, polygon counts will be increased to better match the PlayStation’s rendering characteristics. While still in development, Half-Life PSX has the potential to redefine expectations for first-person shooters on the platform.
Since the developer released the first annoucement on Twitter (X), no further information has been shared. We hope to see new screenshots, details, or updates in the future. The community is eager for progress, as this remains one of the most visited pages on the website! We strongly believe this project is highly anticipated and would be an incredible experience to play on the PSX.
You can read more in the original post!
Noah and the Poohloudies
Developer: Golden Age Turbo
Noah and the Poohloudies is a 3D adventure game powered by a custom engine built around an innovative level-of-detail system called SuperQuads. Nearby objects are rendered with higher detail, while distant geometry is dynamically merged into simpler forms, allowing for more natural environments without overwhelming the hardware.
PSX support was added in 2025 (previous versions for PSX exists but not with SuperQuads engine), with further performance gains expected once full GTE usage is implemented. The engine also includes camera collision, object interaction physics, and floating platforms. The project is simultaneously targeting multiple platforms, including Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64, 3DO, and Dreamcast (that's a great achievement).
You can read more in the original post!
Project MTP
Developer: Elias Daler
Still unnamed, Project MTP blends life-simulation elements with psychological horror, drawing inspiration from Animal Crossing and Silent Hill. Development progress is shared frequently on his Twitter (X) account, offering rare insight into the realities of low-level PSX programming.
The project emphasizes atmosphere, slow pacing, and environmental storytelling, with the developer openly discussing the technical struggles involved. While no release date has been announced, Project MTP remains one of the most intriguing and closely followed PSX homebrew projects currently in development.
You can read more in the original post!
As we reach the end of the year, we would like to thank all readers for following the evolution of the PSX homebrew scene and for supporting the developers who keep it alive. Titles such as Doki Doki Literature Club! PSX, PETSCOP: Restored, Five Nights at Freddy’s PSX, and Sauna helped define the year through either new releases or substantial updates, while ambitious projects like Half-Life PSX, Noah and the Poohloudies, and Project MTP continued to attract attention despite still being in development.
Overall, 2025 was a great year for homebrew community. Development moved at an uneven pace, shaped by the technical limits of the platform and the reality of mostly solo creators working in their spare time. Even so, consistent updates, technical experimentation, and ongoing community interest show that the scene remains active and determined to move forward.
We hope you enjoyed this overview and found it useful. Thank you for reading, and we look forward to seeing how these projects evolve in the coming months. Until next time and Happy New Year!
No comments:
Post a Comment