GTA Vice City Stories now runs natively on PC, no emulator needed
A static recompilation turns Vice City Stories’ PSP code into a native Windows program. How it works, what you need and how it differs from other fan ports.
No emulator, no remake: just the original game, running as a Windows program. On August 9, 2026, developer Jessica Natalia showed GTA Vice City Stories running natively on PC, then released the source of PSPRecomp, the tool that made it happen, a few days later.
Static recompilation in plain terms
Until now, playing Vice City Stories on PC meant using a PSP emulator, which imitates the console in real time while the game runs. Static recompilation flips that around. It analyzes the game's code, written for the PSP's processor, ahead of time and translates it into C++, which is then compiled into a regular Windows executable. The result, VCSNative.exe, doesn't pretend to be a PSP; it's a PC program that does exactly what the original game did.
It's the same approach behind the native PC version of Zelda: Majora's Mask built from its Nintendo 64 code. The upside is better performance, more stability and more room to push resolution, controls and frame rate without an emulator's constraints.
- Emulator: runs the original game by imitating the console. Your copy supplies the code.
- Static recompilation: runs the original code, translated for PC. Your copy still supplies the code.
- Reverse-engineered port (re3, reVC): runs code the community rewrote by hand. None of Rockstar's code is used.
What you'll need
The recompilation doesn't include anything from Rockstar. To get it running, you need:
- Your own copy of Vice City Stories for PSP, specifically the US release, ULUS-10160.
- The game's decrypted executable and its UMD data files, extracted yourself. The project ships no decryption code.
- A Windows PC, plus Visual Studio 2022 if you want to build it yourself.
Graphics have been rebuilt on DirectX 12, along with audio and input. PSPRecomp is designed as a general-purpose tool for PSP games under the MIT license, and Vice City Stories is its first "profile," the set of game-specific pieces for one particular title.
Natalia hasn't released a ready-made build. Other developers have posted their own builds, which we haven't been able to verify. As always, GTA House doesn't link to downloads.
How it differs from White Trash Games' port
This isn't the same thing as Vice City Stories – 20th Anniversary Edition, the port being built by White Trash Games. That one recreates the game on top of reVC, with 4K, restored cut content and its own improvements. This is the PSP game as it was, running natively. It's more faithful, since it's literally the same code, but also more bare-bones: no restored missions, no new textures.
The difference matters legally too. Because the project contains none of Rockstar's code or assets and requires your own copy, it's on firmer ground than ports that distribute game files. It isn't untouchable, though: Take-Two has gone after similar projects, and with GTA 6 around the corner, Vice City is the turf it watches most closely.
Our take
The most interesting thing about PSPRecomp isn't Vice City Stories, it's what comes next. A general-purpose tool for recompiling PSP games opens the door to doing the same with Liberty City Stories and much of the console's library. For Rockstar, it's an awkward reminder: twenty years without a PC release for Vice City Stories, and the community has now found a way to do it without asking.
