This is a step by step beginner’s guide shows how to install the most recent PCSX2, the free open-source Playstation 2 Emulator, in all current Ubuntu releases, including Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 24.04, and Ubuntu 24.10.

PCSX2 is an application that emulates the PS2’s hardware, allowing to play PS2 games on PC or laptop with additional features, such as custom resolutions and upscaling, virtual and sharable memory cards, save states, and internal recorder for lossless quality at full speed.

PCSX2 is available to install in Ubuntu Linux through 4 different ways. Choose either one that you prefer:

• Ubuntu Repository – Ubuntu includes PCSX2 in system repository, but old!
• Flatpak package – runs in sandbox environment and works in most Linux.
• AppImage – no installation required, just run to launch the emulator.
• Ubuntu PPA – contains native .deb package, but for bleeding edge unstable version.

NOTE 1: Due to legal reasons, PCSX2 does NOT include any BIOS or Game Roms. You need to dump them from your PS2 devices by yourself. If you don’t even have a PS2, then try RetroArch emulator which has an online source includes many games.

NOTE 2: This tutorial only works on amd64 (Intel/AMD CPU) platform.

Option 1: Install PCSX2 from system repository

Ubuntu includes the game emulator package in system repository, but old.

If you don’t care about the package version, then just press Ctrl+Alt+T to open terminal, and run the command below to install:

sudo apt install pcsx2

Try running sudo apt update to refresh cache if package not found.

Option 2: AppImage

Without installation, you may try out the game emulator through the AppImage.

To download the AppImage, go to its website:

Then click either latest stable or latest nightly build and choose the AppImage from drop-down box.

After that, just right-click on the AppImage file in your Downloads folder and go to its Properties dialog to add executable permission, Finally, run it to launch the game emulator.

NOTE: Ubuntu since 22.04 does NOT support AppImage out-of-the-box, you need to press Ctrl+Alt+T to open terminal and run command to install the require library to make AppImage work:

sudo apt install libfuse2

Option 3: Install PCSX2 via Flatpak package

As you see in the screenshot above, PCSX2 website also provides the Flatpak package for Linux.

To download the Flatpak package, go to either PCSX2 website through the link above, or the Flathub page via link below (click ‘Install’ will download the package):

Tips: Linux Mint 21/22 can directly search for and install the PCSX2 Flatpak package through Software Manager.

After that, press Ctrl+Alt+T to open up a terminal window, and run 2 commands below one by one to install:

• First, enable Flatpak support by installing the daemon package:

  sudo apt install flatpak

  

• Then, run command to install the local .flatpak/.flatpakref package:

  flatpak install /path/to/flatpak-package

  Tips: instead of typing /path/to/flatpak manually, you may drag and drop the file into terminal instead.

  

After installation, launch the game emulator either from start menu (may need log out and back in) or by running the command below in terminal:

flatpak run net.pcsx2.PCSX2

Option 3: Ubuntu PPA

For those who prefer the native .deb package, there’s also an Ubuntu PPA available.

NOTE: This is an auto-build PPA that updates daily. It contains the unstable version, that may have bugs!

First, press Ctrl+Alt+T to open up a terminal window. Then, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pcsx2-team/pcsx2-daily

Then, refresh the cache though it should done automatically:

sudo apt update

Finally, run the command below to install the PCSX2 unstable package:

sudo apt install pcsx2-unstable

Uninstall PCSX2 PS2 Emulator

Depends on how you installed the package, you may uninstall it by using either way below.

To uninstall the native .deb package, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove pcsx2 pcsx2-unstable

And, use the command below to remove the Ubuntu PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:pcsx2-team/pcsx2-daily

To uninstall the Flatpak package, use command:

flatpak uninstall --delete-data net.pcsx2.PCSX2

Also run flatpak uninstall --unused may free up some disk spaces by removing useless runtimes.

For the AppImage, just remove that file from your Downloads folder and done!