PlayStation Emulator for Android Removed, Dev Blames Sony Xperia Play

Google switches God-mode on and removes popular PSOne emulator, PSX4Droid from the Android App Market.

With Sony Ericsson’s PlayStation Phone – the Sony Xperia Play – brewing around the corner (or that’s what we would love to believe), Google just turned God-mode as it abruptly pulls the plug on the popular PSOne emulator for the Android OS, the PSX4Droid. The app has been removed from the Android Market without giving any prior notification to its developer, “zodttd.”

According to the author, the emulator app was removed due to a “Content Policy violation,” but zodttd suspects that it has something to do with Sony’s PlayStation Phone that’s set to make a debut soon. However, it remains a mystery why the app’s main competition, fpse, is still available at the Market.

When asked if zodttd is considering moving to the Amazon Market, the author replied that he’s a “bit worried to go to Amazon App Store” since “people who own the Market version would have to buy it again to update.”

Could the perpetrator behind this fiasco truly be the Sony Xperia Play? Or is it another push from Google after several complaints about their copyright policies? Perhaps both.