How to Install Bloodborne on Your Computer

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A simple, straightforward guide to running the game

Co-authored by Eric McClure

Last Updated: January 25, 2026 Fact Checked

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If you’re a gaming enthusiast, you’ve heard of how beloved Bloodborne is. But if you don’t have a PlayStation console, you haven’t been able to Yharnam in all of its dark, gritty, and bloody glory. Until now! There are two ways to enjoy the game on PC: an unofficial method that involves running an emulator, and the official method, which requires PlayStation Plus Premium. We’ll cover both.

Getting Bloodborne on Your PC

The best way to play Bloodborne on a PC is to install ShadPS4, an emulator, and BB Launcher, a management program, to run a copy of the game. You can also play Bloodborne on your computer by streaming the game through PlayStation Plus Premium, but most players find the quality too low to enjoy the game this way.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Emulating with ShadPS4

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1
Download and install the ShadPS4 emulator. The download links are on ShadPS4’s website. To run ShadPS4, you’ll need to check your specs. You’ll need a PC or Mac with at least 8 GB of RAM and a GPU that supports Vulkan 1.3 (any RTX 20+ series or newer will work for Nvidia, while AMD RX cards that are 5000+ series or newer should suffice). You also need (at minimum) Windows 10, Ubuntu 22.04, or macOS 15.4. Follow the installation wizard to install the program.
- Your GPU drivers must be up to date for ShadPS4 to run properly.
- What is ShadPS4? ShadPS4 is an emulator program. Emulators are programs that allow a computer to imitate the hardware of another product, which is the PS4 in this case. ShadPS4 is not the game, Bloodborne. It is merely a program that can host the game on a computer.
- Is the emulator option better than the official method? Yes. You’ll get much better performance from the game by emulating the community build of the PC game. You’ll have stable 30-60 FPS, and much higher graphics quality. You also won’t have to stay online, which is essential for the “official” PlayStation solution.
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Confirm you have Visual C++ installed. If you have done any gaming on your PC at all, you should already have the latest version of Visual C++ Redistributable on your PC (it will appear in your list of programs). If you don’t, pop over to Microsoft’s C++ download page and install the latest version on your PC.^{[1]
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- What is Visual C++ Redistributable? It’s just a batch of background info that many applications (usually games) need to run on Windows.
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Download and install BB Launcher. On their GitHub page, click on Releases on the right side of the screen. Scroll down past the “pre-release” section to the most recent Launcher Release section. Click on your operating system’s file, unzip the file, and follow the installation wizard on your computer.
- What is BB Launcher? BB Launcher is an optional program that serves as an interface for ShadPS4. We’re going to suggest using it, though. It will make it easier to launch Bloodborne with your preferred settings in the future.
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Acquire a Bloodborne pkg file. We’re not going to help you here just because this technically involves pirating, but the game file should come with an additional “update 1.09” pkg (that’s the most recent emulator build).^{[2]
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- Is it dangerous to emulate Bloodborne? There is always some danger in downloading games, programs, or files in this way, but if you know enough about computers to download emulators and navigate GitHub comfortably, this should be a low-risk process.
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Select your Build version in BB Launcher. Under ShadPS4 Build, click Manage Builds. Here, it will display all of the game versions. Click on the most recent version of the game and select it as your build path.^{[3]
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- Why would I use an older build? If you run into bugs or your PC struggles to open one of the newer versions of the game, an older version of the game may work instead. It’s important to note that these are not different versions of Bloodborne. Each “build” is a different version of the community project’s code.
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Unpack the game file in BB Launcher. Create a folder for the unpacked files and move them there. Then, open BB Launcher and select PKG Extractor. Go to the folder with your unpacked files and select the game file. Wait for the game to unpack. Then, repeat this process with the update file.^{[4]
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- The update file is not optional. Bloodborne’s ShadPS4 build is a community project, and they release updates periodically. You will get a buggy mess if you don’t unpack the update file.
- It will take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes for Bloodborne to unpack, depending on your computer’s processing power.
- Do not delete the unpacked pkg files when you’re done. You may need to run a fresh install in the future.
- If you aren’t using BB Launcher, unpack the game directly in ShadPS4. Then, click “Version Manager” and select a folder for your files. You will have to manually load the correct version of the game every time you want to play.
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Connect your controller and boot up the game. Connect your PS4, PS5, or Xbox (yes, it will work with the emulator build) controller to your PC and run the game by launching it from BB Launcher (or ShadPS4). Enjoy!
- What about mods? This is another reason to use BB Launcher instead of ShadPS4 to manage and launch the game. If you want to mod the game, open BB Launcher and select “Bloodborne Cheats/Patches.” Then, hit GoldHEN Repository and Download Patches. Choose whatever new XML file you want to add and hit Save before launching the game.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Streaming with PlayStation Plus Premium

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1
Sign up for PlayStation Plus Premium. PlayStation Plus Premium is Sony’s answer to Xbox Game Pass, and like Game Pass, you don’t need a console. Sign up for PlayStation Plus Premium on their subscription page.^{[5]
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- This process requires a high-end gaming PC and really stable, good internet. This method involves remotely streaming the game to your PC from a Sony server. If you don’t have a higher-end PC and incredible internet, it may be too laggy and buggy to really enjoy.
- You cannot play Bloodborne with PlayStation Plus Premium without a DualShock 4 controller. Unfortunately, PlayStation does not allow other controllers for PC play on PlayStation Plus Premium.
- We recommend only signing up for one month first. This way, you can test how the game performs on your computer before committing to a longer-term subscription.
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Download the PlayStation Plus app on your computer. Go to PlayStation’s PS Plus download page and hit the blue Download PlayStation Plus app button. Follow the installation wizard to install the app on your PC.^{[6]
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- Unfortunately, the PlayStation Plus app is only compatible with Windows. You can’t use it if you’re on Mac or Linux.
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Install Bloodborne through the PS Plus app and play. In the PlayStation Plus app, navigate to the game library and find Bloodborne. Install the game and boot it up from your app!
- If the game runs slowly or is buggy, try one of the following solutions to see if you can improve your performance:
  - Plug in an Ethernet cable to run hardline internet instead of WiFi.
  - Lower the quality settings in the game.
  - Close any high-energy apps or programs you’re running.
  - Disable GPU optimization.
- What if the game is still performing poorly? Unfortunately, this is why the fan-made emulator version is so much more popular. PS Plus streaming just isn’t strong enough in a lot of cases to provide a good experience with Bloodborne because it’s such a large game with high graphics requirements.