PS2 Emulator AetherSX2’s Creator Suspends Development Following Death Threats

In an era where there aren’t many ways to play old classics on consoles, emulators have taken over. We are aware of the RPCS3 emulator, which now runs all PlayStation 3 games and allows you to experience nostalgia.

Just like it, AetherSX2 is another emulator for old PlayStation 2 games, which has been in development for android devices. 

The emulator is a technological wonder, a completely free emulator for PS2 games on Android. First released in December 2021, the AetherSX2 emulator easily beat its competition like the DamonPS2 emulator. However, the emulator’s developer is now suspending work indefinitely following death threats and harassment.

Major Takeaways

• Following death threats and harassment, the AetherSX2 creator is indefinitely suspending development.
• The creator said the hobby is not fun for him anymore. 
• Players will be able to use the app and download it for the foreseeable future.

A message on the emulator’s website informed us of this sad news. In the announcement, the developer told us explicitly that AetherSX2 is stopping development. The reasons listed for this, are concerning and shocking.

Death threats were the final nail in the coffin for the developer according to this message. Fans were constantly complaining and harassing them for new things. Hence, all of this took a toll on the developer, and they now say they are done.

Due to neverending impersonating, complaints, demands, and now death threats, I’m done.”

The developer mentions impersonation several times during this message. According to him, it played a big part in him suspending AetherSX2’s development, and tells us scammers are still trying to copy them. Many people are claiming to represent the emulator on social media sites, but the dev says none of them are legit. 

So, they are essentially warning players to not fall for any kind of fake accounts or hackers. We also get some insight into why this project was always non-profit. According to the dev, they always did it because it was a fun hobby, but now it wasn’t fun.

AetherSX2 was always meant to be a fun hobby for me, not profit driven. It doesn’t make sense to continue working on a hobby which isn’t fun anymore.”

Hence, bullying and harassment lead to the developer’s passion project becoming toxic. When you see this reasoning, the suspension of AetherSX2’s development makes complete sense. But, the app is not going to be taken off Google Play Store just yet.

Players can still use the emulator and download it, according to the message. It will work for the foreseeable future but after that, nothing is certain. So, if you want to try out PlayStation 2 games on your Android, now is the time.

All in all, this is a really sad development in this really promising project. You only needed a Snapdragon 845 processor to play PS2 games on your android via the AetherSX2 emulator. Even budget devices ran 2D games with relative ease through this brilliant tech. 

Only phones from 2014 or earlier aren’t able to run PlayStation 2 games via AetherSX2, according to AndroidAuthority.

Even though the emulator was demanding and required a flagship phone for optimal performance, it was still the best and most cost-friendly PS2 emulator on Android. Hence, seeing that it will not get updates now is a hard pill to swallow. 

The creator’s Patreon account is also inactive now, which is more bad news. Current builds are still available to download on a link in the announcement. We can only hope they decide to return someday because the AetherSX2 is one brilliant creation.