A focused preview update
DuckStation’s latest preview build was published on September 9, 2026, at 12:10 UTC. It removes the SingleTextureAndUBOAndPushConstants path and updates the Swedish translation used by the Qt interface.
The release notes do not describe user-visible performance, compatibility, or game-support changes. As a Preview channel build, it has received less testing than Stable releases and may contain bugs or other issues.
PlayStation emulation across desktop platforms
DuckStation emulates the original Sony PlayStation on Windows, Linux, and macOS. Its feature set includes hardware rendering through Direct3D, OpenGL, Vulkan, and Metal, upscaling, PGXP geometry enhancements, save states, rewinding, controller presets, memory-card tools, RetroAchievements, and support for several disc-image formats.
This preview provides Windows x64 and ARM64 installers and archives, including an SSE2 Windows build for older x86 CPUs. Linux users can choose x64, ARM32, or ARM64 AppImages, while macOS is covered by a universal archive for Intel and Apple Silicon systems.
What users should know
The documented desktop requirements include Windows 10 version 1809 or newer, Linux distributions equivalent to Ubuntu 22.04 or later for the AppImage, and macOS 13.3 or newer. The normal x86 build requires SSE4.1; older compatible CPUs can use the lower-performance SSE2 build.
A PlayStation or PlayStation 2 BIOS image is required to start the emulator, and the project does not provide one. Users are expected to dump an image from their own console. DuckStation also supports direct loading of homebrew executables and several disc formats, including BIN/CUE, CHD, ECM, MDS/MDF, CCD, and unencrypted PBP files.
