It’s easy to forget that the PS5 has any true exclusives left, given how few remain. Xbox, though, can hardly boast of a strong exclusive library either, having only recently started to reclaim that territory. Yet an extremely ambitious developer has managed to get Windows 11 running on the PS5 using a project called Mihawk OS.
This is just another wild turn for the PS5 modding scene since the console was jailbroken, but what developer Mihawk is actually doing is genuinely impressive. They are building a translation layer that will allow both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows games to run directly on a jailbroken PS5.
While development of Mihawk OS isn’t open source like many other mods currently releasing, Mihawk says progress is going well, and just to instill some confidence in what Mihawk is capable of, they also got RetroArch running, which allows a whole host of emulators to work on the console. That said, we don’t know much yet, particularly regarding how games actually perform. However, we have seemingly seen HADES run within Windows on PS5.
🎮 PP (PS5 Proton) — A homebrew that runs Windows games on PS5.The project is growing into something bigger: Mihawk OS, a Windows 11 Clone🔥32-bit and 64-bit Windows gaming through Proton, with a Linux compatibility layer planned as well. pic.twitter.com/kL1CBYp11tOctober 10, 2026
How other games perform is still unknown, but it’s impressive regardless. Who knows, instead of relying on Xbox Cloud Gaming via a new homebrew app, you might eventually be able to play titles like Gears of War: E-Day natively.
Of course, that assumes you’re comfortable with the cost of jailbreaking your console, which naturally limits your access to PlayStation servers and could even put your account at risk.
I’ve covered other impressive work in the PS5 jailbreak scene, including Xbox 360 and OG Xbox emulation running directly on the PS5. It’s honestly getting a little out of control. If Windows games can run natively on the PS5, I think that would push me over the edge to buy one.
It would seemingly make for a solid living room console, effectively becoming what I wanted the Steam Machine to be, but at a heavily discounted price if I went the second-hand route.
Just a rather quick asterisk, too: Jailbreaking isn’t something I necessarily recommend, but it also isn’t illegal, and I do recommend you at least purchase the games you are either going to play or emulate on a jailbroken PS5.
If you’re as baffled and impressed by these latest advancements as I am, let me know in the comments!
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