PS2 Emulator Developer Quits Due To Death Threats

Emulation is a necessary part of video Game preservation and History. Most companies don't seem to be too committed to ensuring you have access to their legacy Games, and tracking down old hardware and copies can be expensive, so emulation helps a lot. One developer was working on a PS2 emulator for Android devices but has since quit due to "neverending impersonating, complaints, demands, and now death threats."

As reported by Kotaku, the single developer working on AetherSX2 announced that they were ceasing development via the program's website. They wrote, "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."

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You can still download current builds of the software from an archive linked in the above post, but the developer warns you should have "good security hygiene and don't install APKs from random sources," as there are many "people claiming to represent AetherSX2 on various social media - they are not legit."

As noted by Kotaku, people over on the r/EmulationAndroid subreddit have been aware of the pressure the developer is under for some time now. The developer posted a comment that read, "If I don't find it fun to develop the app anymore, then I can choose not to. I don't owe anyone anything. Downvote me all you like, but you didn't pay for the app, you're not a customer. If I choose to stop working on it, it's not like it's going to disappear - you can continue to use it just like you do now."

They add that the main issue is the amount of emails they get. "Every day, I get 15+ emails nagging for 32-bit support (sometimes demanding I 'stop updating 64 I need to play'), whinging about bad performance on slow devices, or other rubbish like 'make a ps3 emulator', 'fix my Game very soon I need it'. My inbox has over 6,000 emails since launch in the last year."

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