Jotego's JTCPS3 core enters beta: Capcom's CPS3 finally arrives on MiSTer FPGA

It's a moment many FPGA enthusiasts thought they would never see. On June 12, 2026, Spanish developer Jotego, already responsible for a large part of the arcade catalogue available on MiSTer FPGA, announced the release of a first beta version of his JTCPS3 core, dedicated to the Capcom Play System 3 hardware.

Released in 1996, the CPS3 has long been considered one of the hardest arcade systems to emulate on FPGA, due to a particularly robust hardware encryption scheme designed by Capcom to fight piracy. This new beta already allows Street Fighter III: New Generation and Red Earth (Warzard) to boot up, with graphics and sound faithful to the original.

A few more steps before full compatibility

Jotego explained that finishing this core was particularly challenging, including SDRAM noise issues on the MiSTer that required debugging on alternative FPGA hardware before the problem could be fixed. The full CPS3 library counts only six games: Red Earth, Street Fighter III: New Generation, Street Fighter III 2nd Impact: Giant Attack, Street Fighter III 3rd Strike, as well as the two JoJo's Bizarre Adventure titles, which should follow in future updates.

MiSTer FPGA owners who want to try this beta right away can find the JTCPS3 core on the project's official GitHub repository. Newcomers can follow the beta core installation guide posted on the official MiSTer FPGA forum, which walks through the process of enabling these experimental cores step by step.

Source: Time Extension