# Shadow of the Colossus PC: a native Windows port with a Vulkan layer

> Shadow of the Colossus PC runs the game's own x86-64 code on a Windows CPU while the PS4 graphics are translated to Vulkan, and it ships a launcher for graphics, saves and controls. It is a loader rather than a full emulator, and it needs your own game dump and, for sound, two modules from your own console.

**AjncSystem/ShadowOfTheColossus-PC** — Native Windows port of Shadow of the Colossus (PS4, CUSA08809) - bring your own game dump. Port nativo para PC.

- Repository: https://github.com/AjncSystem/ShadowOfTheColossus-PC
- Stars: 1,409 · Forks: 80
- Language: C++
- License: GPL-2.0
- Published: 2026-10-20 · Updated: 2026-10-20 · Language: en
- Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/ajncsystem-shadowofthecolossus-pc

## Native x86-64 execution with the PS4 GPU translated to Vulkan

The port targets Windows 10 and 11 on 64-bit systems and takes a different approach from a full emulator. The README states that the game's own x86-64 code runs directly on the PC CPU while the PS4 GPU is translated to Vulkan. It is described explicitly as a loader rather than a complete emulator: a piece that provides the system functions the game expects, in the style of the bloodborne_pc project.

That distinction shapes everything else. Because the original code is executing rather than being reimplemented, the port inherits the game's behaviour, including its assumptions about the hardware, and the work becomes a matter of supplying the missing system layer and fixing the places where the original code assumed a console environment.

The project is released under GPL-2.0 and carries a disclaimer that no game file or Sony file is included, that it is not affiliated with Sony Interactive Entertainment or Bluepoint Games, and that the reader needs their own dump and, for sound, two modules from their own console. The last push to the repository was on 2026-10-19, the same day the v0.58.1 release was published.

## Boot: NID imports, fibers, CPU patches and a 2 GiB image

The table of implemented areas gives the clearest picture of the engineering. On the boot side, the game starts with the bbport loader: imports resolved by NID, fibers, CPU patches using SSE4a, and an image below 2 GiB because the game keeps pointers in 31 bits.

Each of those four items answers a specific obstacle. NID resolution is how a PlayStation title asks the system for a function, so the loader has to answer for the system libraries the game expects. Fibers are the scheduling primitive the game's own threading code uses. SSE4a patches cover an instruction set the original code emitted for AMD hardware that a PC CPU will not accept. And the 2 GiB ceiling is the practical consequence of the 31-bit pointer assumption, since a 64-bit address space that large would break the game's own pointer arithmetic.

This is the kind of list that shows what a native port actually involves. There is no emulation of the console CPU here, only the missing services, the patches for instructions that no longer exist, and the memory layout constraints the game imposes on itself.

## Video, textures and water rendering carried over from shadPS4

The video work reuses the shadPS4 fork's SotC core inside the port. The README lists logos, the opening sequence, menus and the open field working without black polygons, plus shadows with correct lighting, and it notes that texture streaming now loads the finest mips without the memory corruption that caused crashes in earlier builds.

Water received its own attention across several versions. The port implements screen-space reflections, environment reflections per probe, splashes, rings and foam when swimming, with a cubemap correction borrowed from Pink-shadPS4. Version 0.56 addressed open-world water with waves, where lakes and rivers below the waterfalls no longer sit flat like a mirror, because a shader instruction had been ignored, and where the top lake reflects further out with direct memory access enabled by default as in Pink-shadPS4.

The pattern across the changelog is that most visual bugs trace back to a shader instruction the port did not implement or a memory access path left off. Version 0.0.13 fixed a crash where the opening and menu requested more textures than fit in the pool, and 0.0.12 fixed memory corruption that killed the game after loading a save.

## The launcher: play, games and saves, image and FPS, controls, advanced

The launcher is a separate front end with five sections, and it is where most of the port's user-facing features live.

The Play section checks the game version, the sound modules, the saves and the graphics card before launching, and offers quick options for exit, upscaler, 60 FPS, 16x filter and fullscreen. Games and saves holds the game library, which works like the shadPS4 one, the automatic search of your PC drives, and import of saves from shadPS4. Image and FPS covers output from 720p to 4K, plus 16:10, 21:9 and 32:9, with the game rendering at the output size up to 1080 lines of height and FSR 1 plus RCAS upscaling the rest, along with PS4 Pro mode, effects such as vignette, fog and SSAO, and performance options. Controls covers automatic gamepad detection for DualShock 4, DualSense and Xbox pads, mouse camera, and key rebinding by clicking the action and pressing the new key. Advanced exposes Bluepoint engine cvars, diagnostics, a desktop shortcut and the per-session log.

That log is worth knowing about, because the README asks AMD users to attach user/last_run.log to an issue:

```text
user/last_run.log
```

The same file path is where the readme points for diagnosing a problem on hardware the developer does not have.

## Release pace: 0.56, 0.57, 0.58 and 0.58.1 in five weeks

The recent versions show an active port rather than a one-off release. Version 0.57 was an AMD-focused build, correcting the green and pink colours in fog and on characters by making AMD cards take the 32-thread path the NVIDIA cards use, based on the diagnosis in issue #7, and adding a launcher option to switch off direct memory access for about 10 percent more FPS and smoother distant water. It also notes that the change had not yet been tested on an AMD machine by the author.

Version 0.58 credits a community version with fewer crashes, including video memory exhaustion, game freezing and a post-colossus crash in PS4 Pro mode, plus around 15 percent more FPS and lower video memory use, AMD fixes for an RDNA3 and RDNA4 black block, 21:9 and 32:9 widescreen, 30, 60 and uncapped FPS options, Xbox icons, experimental FSR 3 and DLSS-G frame generation, and launcher translations into Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Russian.

Version 0.58.1 restored high quality textures, which the README says the game had not loaded since version 0.0.13, and added a custom window icon. The per-version detail sits in CHANGELOG.md at the root of the repository, next to a tree that includes src/, launcher/, gpu/, patches/, third_party/, tools/, scripts/, packaging/ and docs/.

## Known problems the project lists itself

The README keeps a problems section, and its contents are the honest measure of the port's current state.

After an update, the shaders are compiled again, so the first launch takes longer and stutters. The AMD corrections in 0.57 and 0.58 have not been tested on an AMD machine by the maintainer, and users are asked to attach their last_run.log. Experimental frame generation can make the health and stamina bar shake, and it only makes a difference when the game is running at 30 FPS. Running above the game's 30 FPS limit changes how some scenes behave, with the second colossus wall and flying colossi called out, so 30 FPS is recommended for those parts. And with 8 GB of video memory, usage approaches the limit in large areas.

Those are the trade-offs a player actually meets. Two of them, the AMD validation gap and the frame generation instability, are tied to hardware the maintainer does not have, which is a normal situation in community porting but one you should price into your expectations.

## What the player has to supply

The port ships nothing from the game. The README is explicit that you need your own dump of CUSA08809, with the EU 1.01 version preferred, containing eboot.bin, sce_module and sce_sys, obtained from your own PS4. For sound you need two decrypted modules, libSceNgs2.sprx and libSceUlt.sprx, taken from your own console or from the user/sys_modules folder of a shadPS4 install:

```text
libSceNgs2.sprx
libSceUlt.sprx
```

Without those two modules the game runs mute. The launcher can also find a shadPS4 save and offer to import it, and it can pick up DLC folders from shadPS4 or from a folder holding one subfolder per DLC, with a DLC folder setting under Games and saves.

Two constraints follow from the version numbers. The patch modes, the 60 FPS option and the 16x filter, apply only to the EU 1.01 build, and on other versions the game runs normally at 30 FPS. The system requirements are Windows 10 or 11 on 64-bit, a graphics card with Vulkan 1.3 from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel with a recent driver, and no Python installation, even though the repository carries run.py and sotc.py alongside build.sh and a shell.nix for the build side.

## Conclusion

Shadow of the Colossus PC suits a Windows player who owns a PS4 copy and wants the game running natively on a modern GPU with widescreen output, frame rate options and community patches. It is the wrong choice if you do not have your own dump and console, because no game or Sony files ship with it, and the wrong choice if you need the audio, since the sound modules come from your own hardware and without them the game runs mute. Verify first that your GPU driver exposes Vulkan 1.3, that your dump is CUSA08809 at EU 1.01 if you want the 60 FPS and 16x filter patch modes, and that you have 8 GB of video memory or more, because the README warns that 8 GB sits close to the limit in large areas.

## FAQ

### Does Shadow of the Colossus PC include the game files?

No. The README states that no game file or Sony file is included, that the project is not affiliated with Sony Interactive Entertainment or Bluepoint Games, and that you must supply your own dump of the PS4 game.

### What do I need for sound in the Shadow of the Colossus PC port?

Two decrypted sound modules, libSceNgs2.sprx and libSceUlt.sprx, from your own console or from the user/sys_modules folder of a shadPS4 install. The README notes that without them the game runs mute.

### Which graphics cards are supported by the port?

The requirement is a card with Vulkan 1.3 support from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel with a recent driver, on 64-bit Windows 10 or 11. The README also notes that with 8 GB of video memory usage approaches the limit in large areas.

### Why do the 60 FPS and 16x filter options not work on my copy?

The patch modes apply only to the EU 1.01 version of the game. On other versions the game runs normally at 30 FPS, and the README recommends 30 FPS for the scenes that behave differently above the game's own limit.

## Sources

- [AjncSystem/ShadowOfTheColossus-PC on GitHub](https://github.com/AjncSystem/ShadowOfTheColossus-PC)
- [Issues](https://github.com/AjncSystem/ShadowOfTheColossus-PC/issues)
- [License: GPL-2.0](https://github.com/AjncSystem/ShadowOfTheColossus-PC/blob/main/LICENSE)
- [README](https://github.com/AjncSystem/ShadowOfTheColossus-PC/blob/main/README.md)
- [Releases](https://github.com/AjncSystem/ShadowOfTheColossus-PC/releases)

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Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/ajncsystem-shadowofthecolossus-pc