# Project Nativ

> A static recompiler and runtime that rebuilds PS Vita games such as Killzone: Mercenary as native Windows, Linux and macOS programs from your own copy.

Web page: https://emulationking.com/sony/psvita/games/killzonemercenary/ports/nativ/
Page updated: 2026-11-03

- Developer: TheLostPantheon
- Port type: Recompilation (A tool translated the game's original machine code into C automatically, which was then built as a native PC program.)
- Game: [Killzone: Mercenary](https://emulationking.com/sony/psvita/games/killzonemercenary/index.md)
- AI use: AI-assisted. The project says: “much of its code and documentation was written with AI assistance, under its developer's direction, and tested on the games themselves.”
- Source code: /opt/buildhome/repo/content/sony/psvita/games/killzonemercenary/ports/nativ/index.md
- Runs on: Windows, Linux, macOS

What you need: Your own copies of the supported US releases (Killzone: Mercenary PCSA00107, Uncharted: Golden Abyss PCSA00029, Unit 13 PCSA00014, Shovel Knight PCSE00640) as folders copied from your Vita or PKG files with their licences, and the PS Vita system software update file from Sony's site. Windows 10 or 11, Linux (Steam Deck included) or a Mac with Apple silicon.

Project Nativ turns PS Vita games into native programs for Windows, Linux and macOS. A static recompiler translates a game's ARMv7 code, Thumb-2, VFP and NEON included, into C once, ahead of time, and that C is compiled into a program for the player's computer. Sony's own libraries that the game loads are recompiled with it from the player's firmware file, and a runtime stands in for the Vita's kernel and hardware, running the game's threads, drawing its graphics on the PC's GPU and playing its sound.

Nothing of the games or of Sony's software ships with it. The launcher decrypts the player's own games and the firmware update file from Sony's site, and builds each game on their machine. Each game has a pack that knows the exact releases it plays: the US releases of Killzone: Mercenary (1.00 and 1.12, the version for Botzone and online play), Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Unit 13 and Shovel Knight. Other regions and later updates of some of these are not supported yet, and every release so far is a public beta.

Depending on the game, the ports add higher resolutions, wider screens, 60 FPS and mouse aiming that the Vita never had. The developer says much of its code and documentation was written with AI assistance and tested on the games themselves.

## How to set it up

1. Download the Windows zip, the Linux AppImage or the macOS disk image.
2. On Windows, unzip it outside Program Files and run `Project Nativ.exe`. On Linux, make the AppImage executable and open it. On a Mac, drag Project Nativ into Applications.
3. In the first-run steps, choose the PS Vita system software update file (`PSVUPDAT.PUP`) you downloaded from Sony, then add your games and their updates.
4. Pick a game and play. Nativ recompiles it on your computer the first time, and again once after each Nativ update.

## Latest builds

Download these from the web page: https://emulationking.com/sony/psvita/games/killzonemercenary/ports/nativ/#download

- for Windows: 0.1.5 (2026-11-02)
- AppImage for Linux: 0.1.5 (2026-11-02)
- for macOS (Apple Silicon): 0.1.5 (2026-11-02)