Sony's Firmware Update Forces a Choice for Jailbroken PS5 Owners Who Want PS2 Games
PS5SX2, a homebrew PlayStation 5 emulator built on the open-source PCSX2 PlayStation 2 emulator, lets jailbroken PS5 owners run PS2 software, and the firmware path that keeps those consoles jailbroken is now closing. Engadget reported the details on October 27, 2026.
PS5SX2 adds 4K upscaling, widescreen support, 60fps patches and HD texture packs to the base PCSX2 feature set. Those enhancements are the main draw for users who want PS2 titles on a current console rather than original hardware. An emulator is software that mimics another machine's hardware, so that its software can run on a different platform.
The disc question is less straightforward than it first appears. The PS5 reads DVDs and Blu-rays but not CDs. Several PS2 games shipped on CD-ROM, including Rez and Tekken Tag Tournament, and those cannot be played directly from disc on a PS5. Titles that shipped on DVD, such as God of War, Grand Theft Auto III and Metal Gear Solid 2, do not have this constraint. CD-ROM PS2 discs can be identified by their blue undersides. CD-based games can still run under PS5SX2 if the user copies the disc's contents to a PC as an image file and transfers that image across.
The firmware constraint is the harder problem. A jailbreak is a bypass of the console's security restrictions. The public Relapse jailbreak works on PlayStation 5 System Software up to version 13.60. Sony patched the jailbreak exploit with version 14.00 in mid-September and released version 14.10 on October 1. A jailbroken console cannot take a firmware update without first patching out the exploit, and there is no way to downgrade firmware. Once a console moves past 13.60, the jailbreak is gone.
Staying on 13.60 keeps the jailbreak but carries a cost. In mid-October, Sony reportedly began blocking PlayStation Network sign-ins for consoles on firmware earlier than 14.10. Owners who remain on 13.60 lose PSN access, which covers online multiplayer, the PlayStation Store and any new game that requires recent firmware. The choice is therefore between a jailbroken console that cannot reach the network and an updated console that can no longer run the homebrew stack.
The timing sharpens that trade-off. Grand Theft Auto VI is scheduled for November 19 and is reported to require a minimum of PS5 firmware 14.10. A console on 13.60 would not be able to install it.
The broader context here is a pattern that predates this release. In May 2026, The Verge reported that installing the open-source RPCS3 PlayStation 3 emulator allows a PS5 to read PS3 discs. Earlier, in January 2026, IGN reported that modders had found a new exploit that used a physical game disc to unlock the console, and that physical copies of Star Wars Racer Revenge were selling for $300 or more on eBay after those reports. Each episode followed the same sequence: a disc-based route to homebrew, a rapid firmware response, and a narrowing window for users who wanted to keep the access.
In my view, the most useful question for owners is not whether PS2 emulation works on a jailbroken PS5, but what they are giving up to keep it running. The jailbreak is tied to a specific firmware, and the network features Sony controls are tied to the firmware the jailbreak cannot follow. That linkage is the substance of the story, and it is a platform decision rather than an emulation limitation.
There is a case for the other side as well. PS2 software is a large body of work, and a substantial share of it sits on discs that are aging and, for CD-ROM titles, unreadable on the console that now runs the library's successors. Emulators that can run those titles at higher resolutions and frame rates preserve access to them in a form that original hardware cannot match. The engineering behind PCSX2 and its derivatives has made that preservation practical for a community of enthusiasts, and the constraints described here fall on that community first.
For now, the practical picture is simple. A PS5 on firmware 13.60 can run PS5SX2 and keep the jailbreak, but it cannot reach PSN or the games that require newer firmware. A PS5 on 14.10 has network access and the newest titles, and it cannot run the homebrew. Users will make that decision before GTA VI launches on November 19.
