# RetroArch (open-source gaming app)

> RetroArch is a free, open-source gaming app for Windows, macOS and Linux. Cross-platform, sophisticated frontend for the libretro API. It has 14,250 GitHub stars and is released under the GPL-3.0 license. Its source code is on GitHub at libretro/RetroArch.

RetroArch is the reference frontend for the libretro API. Popular examples of implementations for this API includes video game system emulators and game engines as well as more generalized 3D programs. These programs are instantiated as dynamic libraries. We refer to these as "libretro cores".

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Repository | https://github.com/libretro/RetroArch |
| Platforms | Linux, macOS, Windows, BSD |
| Interface | desktop GUI |
| GitHub stars | 14,250 |
| License | GPL-3.0 (open source) |
| Replaces | n/a |
| Language | C |
| Website | none listed |
| Official | yes (published by the project behind the app) |
| Category | Gaming & emulation |
| Latest release | v1.22.2 (Nov 20, 2025) |
| Last commit | Oct 8, 2026 |

## Install

Download a build for your system from the project's releases (https://github.com/libretro/RetroArch/releases) or website, or build it from source by following the README.

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