Introduction
Welcome to our page dedicated to PS4 reverse engineering! The PlayStation 4 was a gaming console released by Sony in 2013, and has since become a beloved classic of the gaming world. If you’re interested in learning more about the technical aspects of this console and how it works, you’ve come to the right place.
On this page, we’ve compiled a list of links to other pages that cover various topics related to PS4 reverse engineering. Whether you’re interested in understanding the hardware architecture of the console, analyzing game code, or exploring the many mods and hacks that have been created by enthusiasts over the years, you’ll find a wealth of resources and information on the pages we’ve linked to.
Mark Cerny: The Road to PS4 Architecture
Darien features a recording of Mark Cerny’s “The Road to PS4” presentation from GameLabs 2013, where the lead architect details the technical philosophy behind the console’s design. Cerny explains the strategic shift from the complex Cell processor of the PS3 to the developer-friendly x86 architecture of the PS4, emphasizing the critical decision to utilize unified GDDR5 memory to reduce “time to triangle” for game creators.
Hardware
If you’re interested in reverse engineering software for the Sony PlayStation 4 gaming console, it’s essential to have a strong understanding of the hardware that powers it. By comprehending the inner workings of the PS4 hardware, you can better understand how the software interacts with the hardware and how you can potentially modify or enhance it.
In this section of our guide, we will provide you with detailed information and resources on the hardware of the Sony PS4, including retail, prototype, and development hardware.
Retail Hardware
The PS4 has an 8-core AMD x64 class CPU paired with a AMD DirectX 11 class GPU with a few DirectX 12 features built in.
Development Hardware
We have a post all about the Official Playstation 4 Development Hardware:
Operating System
According to Phoronix the operating system for the PS4 is called OrbisOS and is based on FreeBSD 9.0 1.
All Posts
This post covers the hardware used to develop PlayStation 4 games by major studios back in the day, for the software side see the post on the Official PS4 SDK.
Pricing Information The PS4 development kits were split into “Testing...
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Magazine Interviews
The magazine index collects developer interviews tagged for this system across all indexed magazines.
| Magazine | Issue | Pages | Developer | Platforms | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retro Gamer | 127 | p. 42 | Bobby King | PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 | King discusses digitising pinball tables for The Pinball Arcade. |
| Retro Gamer | 133 | pp. 10-11 | Yoshiaki Hirabayashi | GameCube, PC, PlayStation 4 | The producer discusses remastering the GameCube Resident Evil. |
| Retro Gamer | 142 | pp. 6-7 | Matt Birch | PlayStation 4, Amiga | Birch discusses updating Shadow of the Beast for PlayStation 4. |
| Retro Gamer | 145 | p. 8 | Jason Kingsley and Steve Bristow | PlayStation 4 | The Rebellion developers discuss Battlezone VR. |
| Retro Gamer | 156 | pp. 86-89 | Dave Crooks and Dodge Roll developers | PC, PlayStation 4 | The team discusses the design and retro game influences of Enter The Gungeon. |
| Retro Gamer | 159 | pp. 8-9 | Takashi Iizuka | Mega Drive, PC, PlayStation 4 | The Sonic Team head discusses Sonic Mania and a new Sonic game. |
| Retro Gamer | 162 | p. 6 | Jeff Minter | PlayStation 4 | Minter discusses making Polybius from the arcade urban legend. |
| Retro Gamer | 165 | p. 6 | Kara Massie | PlayStation 4 | The Vicarious Visions producer discusses Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy. |
| Retro Gamer | 166 | p. 6 | Rob Hewson and Jonathan Port | PC, PlayStation 4 | The developers discuss reviving Hyper Sentinel. |
| Retro Gamer | 166 | p. 45 | Cyrille Imbert | PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita | The DotEmu CEO discusses bringing Windjammers to modern consoles. |
| Retro Gamer | 166 | pp. 86-89 | Gavin Price | PlayStation 4, PC | Price discusses developing Playtonic’s Yooka-Laylee. |
| Retro Gamer | 168 | pp. 92-97 | Mark Cerny | Arcade, PlayStation, PlayStation 4 | Cerny discusses his game development career. |
| Retro Gamer | 169 | p. 6 | Gavin Cooper | PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC | Cooper discusses reviving Micro Machines as World Series. |
| Retro Gamer | 170 | p. 13 | Eugene Jarvis | PlayStation 4, PC | Jarvis discusses his collaboration with Housemarque on Nex Machina. |
| Retro Gamer | 171 | pp. 74-77 | Toshiyasu Miyabe | SNES, PlayStation 4 | Miyabe discusses creating Wild Guns and Wild Guns Reloaded. |
| Retro Gamer | 172 | p. 63 | Tyler Hogle | Mega-CD, PlayStation 4, Xbox One | The Screaming Villains developer discusses remastering Night Trap for its 25th anniversary. |
| Retro Gamer | 172 | p. 65 | Josh Fairhurst | PlayStation 4 | The Limited Run Games cofounder discusses the physical release of Night Trap: 25th Anniversary Edition. |
| Retro Gamer | 173 | p. 6 | Edwin Chan | PlayStation 4, PC | The Billionsoft representative explains the revival of Accolade and Bubsy. |
| Retro Gamer | 174 | p. 6 | Peter Chapman | PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC | Chapman discusses developing Oddworld: Soulstorm after New ‘n’ Tasty. |
| Retro Gamer | 177 | p. 29 | Dan Geisler and John Gibson | PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 | The Sony engineers discuss working with the PS3 and PS4. |
| Retro Gamer | 180 | pp. 54-63 | Ed Rotberg, Mike Arkin and Jason Kingsley | Arcade, PC, PlayStation 4 | Developers reflect on the Battlezone series from Atari’s arcade original to later revivals. |
| Retro Gamer | 180 | pp. 92-93 | Michael Heald | PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One | Heald discusses developing the side-scrolling beat-‘em-up Wulverblade. |
| Retro Gamer | 181 | p. 14 | Anna Makin, Nic Makin, Jay Howse and Steve Burke | PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One | The MakinGames team discusses creating Raging Justice. |
| Retro Gamer | 181 | pp. 22-23 | Yoshinori Ono and Takayuki Nakayama | Arcade, PC, PlayStation 4 | Capcom developers discuss designing Street Fighter characters. |
| Retro Gamer | 181 | p. 24 | Toshiyuki Kamei | PC, PlayStation 4 | The Capcom art director discusses designing Street Fighter stages. |
| Retro Gamer | 181 | pp. 26-29 | Takayuki Nakayama | Arcade, PC, PlayStation 4 | The Street Fighter V director discusses fighting mechanics and special moves. |
| Retro Gamer | 181 | pp. 30-31 | Yukinori Kanda | PC, PlayStation 4 | The Capcom audio director discusses the music and sound of Street Fighter. |
| Retro Gamer | 186 | p. 6 | Mel Kirk and Imre Szigeti | PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One | Zen Studios discusses adding Williams and Bally tables to Pinball FX 3. |
| Retro Gamer | 186 | pp. 76-83 | Debbie Bestwick, Martyn Brown and Team17 developers | Amiga, PC, PlayStation 4 | Team17 staff discuss the studio’s development and publishing history through its 100th game. |
| Retro Gamer | 186 | p. 78 | Kevin Carthew | PC, PlayStation 4 | Team17’s creative director discusses the Worms series. |
| Retro Gamer | 187 | p. 31 | Yasuyuki Oda | PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch | The SNK producer discusses designing SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy. |
| Retro Gamer | 187 | pp. 34-37 | Brandon Sheffield and Frank Cifaldi | Arcade, PC, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch | The developers discuss preserving early SNK games in the 40th Anniversary Collection. |
| Retro Gamer | 188 | pp. 80-82 | Toby Schadt | PlayStation 4, Xbox One | The Toys for Bob designer discusses remaking the original Spyro trilogy. |
| Retro Gamer | 190 | p. 27 | Yoshiaki Hirabayashi | PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC | Hirabayashi discusses the remake of Resident Evil 2. |
| Retro Gamer | 190 | pp. 88-89 | Dave Ranyard | PlayStation 4, PC | Ranyard discusses the retro influences on VR game Arca’s Path. |
| Retro Gamer | 191 | pp. 32-33 | Nils Hammerich | PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One | Hammerich discusses the modern remaster of Gods. |
| Retro Gamer | 194 | pp. 82-83 | Alex Ward | PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One | Ward discusses making the arcade racer Dangerous Driving. |
| Retro Gamer | 197 | p. 6 | Luke Rideout | PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One | The Beamdog producer discusses bringing classic Dungeons & Dragons RPGs to consoles. |
| Retro Gamer | 197 | pp. 20-29 | Yu Suzuki | Dreamcast, PC, PlayStation 4 | Suzuki revisits the creation of Shenmue and its continuation. |
| Retro Gamer | 198 | pp. 86-89 | Carlton Gaunt | PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One | Gaunt discusses developing the futuristic racer Pacer. |
| Retro Gamer | 199 | pp. 86-89 | Tengo Project developers | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 | The original team discusses reviving The Ninja Saviors. |
| Retro Gamer | 200 | pp. 85-87 | Chris Bateman, Michael de Plater and Alex Beachum | PC, PlayStation 4 | Developers discuss the design of open-world games and the systems that make them work. |
| Retro Gamer | 200 | pp. 98-99 | Éric Chahi and Steve Bristow | PC, PlayStation 4 | The developers discuss making games for virtual reality. |
| Retro Gamer | 206 | pp. 70-75 | Kazuma Kujo | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 4 | The creator discusses the development of the Disaster Report series. |
| Retro Gamer | 209 | p. 27 | José Sanz and Jankenteam developers | PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One | The remake team explains its plans for Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX. |
| Retro Gamer | 213 | pp. 26-27 | Pierre-Sylvain Gires | PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One | Gires explains the plans and design choices behind the Sands of Time remake. |
| Retro Gamer | 214 | pp. 88-89 | Derek Yu | PC, PlayStation 4 | Yu discusses the design, difficulty and development of Spelunky 2. |
| Retro Gamer | 221 | pp. 86-89 | Henk Nieborg and Mike Tucker | PC, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch | The artist and designer discuss making the retro-styled action game Battle Axe. |
| Retro Gamer | 222 | pp. 18-31 | Yasuyuki Oda and Eisuke Ogura | Neo Geo, Arcade, PlayStation 4 | SNK staff trace the design and evolution of The King Of Fighters series. |
| Retro Gamer | 225 | pp. 26-27 | Masao Shirosaki | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PC | Shirosaki discusses the design of Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania. |
| Retro Gamer | 225 | pp. 76-79 | Dennis Mendel and Benedict Braitsch | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Mega Drive | Strictly Limited Games staff discuss preserving and releasing previously lost games such as Clockwork Aquario. |
| Retro Gamer | 231 | pp. 62-67 | Tim Schafer, Scott Campbell and James Spafford | PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 4 | Double Fine staff reflect on the studio’s games and development history. |
| Retro Gamer | 232 | pp. 12-13 | Michael Binkowski | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 | Red Art Games’ founder discusses publishing physical editions of independent games. |
| Retro Gamer | 233 | pp. 6-7 | Benjamin Anseaume and Artur Grzegorczyn | PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 | The team discusses remaking Sega’s The House Of The Dead. |
| Retro Gamer | 236 | pp. 18-27 | Shuhei Matsumoto, Kazuhiro Tsuchiya and Takayuki Nakayama | Arcade, PlayStation 4, PC | Capcom staff discuss Street Fighter’s cultural reach and the series’ continuing development. |
| Retro Gamer | 240 | pp. 62-63 | Yuichi Toyama and Naoki Horii | Arcade, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 | Taito and M2 developers explain the technical work behind Ray’Z Arcade Chronology. |
| Retro Gamer | 242 | pp. 28-37 | Martin Edmondson, Matt Birch and Steve Hammond | Amiga, Commodore 64, PlayStation 4 | Developers revisit the original Shadow Of The Beast, its conversions, sequels and remake. |
| Retro Gamer | 242 | pp. 62-63 | Philippe Dessoly | Arcade, SNES, Switch, PlayStation 4, PC | The artist discusses Mr Nutz Studio’s updated Joe & Mac: Caveman Ninja. |