diff --git a/services/wolf.sh b/services/wolf.sh
index f6cf110..0343f43 100644
--- a/services/wolf.sh
+++ b/services/wolf.sh
@@ -1334,6 +1334,61 @@ WIIUXMLPY
         log_info "system in ES-DE (per-game or per-system, via its own 'Alternative emulators' option)."
     fi
 
+    # ── PS2: backfill the PCEE2 RetroArch core as an alternative emulator ──────
+    # ghcr.io/games-on-whales/es-de:edge only ever installs ES-DE's latest
+    # RELEASED AppImage (confirmed against gow's own apps/es-de/build/Dockerfile
+    # — it queries GitLab's releases API for the newest tag, not git master),
+    # which is currently v3.4.1. PCEE2 (a separate, actively-developed libretro
+    # PCSX2 port, WizzardSK/pcee2-libretro) was only added to ES-DE's own
+    # bundled es_systems.xml under "Version 3.5.0 (in development)" — confirmed
+    # against ES-DE's real CHANGELOG.md and by diffing the v3.4.1 tag's actual
+    # ps2 system block against git master's: identical except for this one
+    # missing <command> line. So on the version this container actually runs,
+    # "PCEE2" genuinely isn't in the alternative-emulators list at all yet —
+    # not a missing download, a missing menu entry. This backfills it (as the
+    # new default, matching upstream's own placement) while every other field
+    # and command is copied verbatim from the real v3.4.1 block, so nothing
+    # else about the ps2 system changes. The actual pcee2_libretro.so core
+    # file doesn't need any extra download step here — confirmed live against
+    # the libretro buildbot's own index that it's already covered by this
+    # installer's normal "./manage.sh cores all" (the default RetroArch core
+    # pre-download prompt below), same as every other libretro core.
+    mkdir -p "$GAME_STORAGE_DIR/esde-custom-systems"
+    local _PS2_XML="$GAME_STORAGE_DIR/esde-custom-systems/es_systems.xml"
+    backup_if_exists "$_PS2_XML"
+    python3 - "$_PS2_XML" << 'PS2XMLPY'
+import re, sys
+path = sys.argv[1]
+try:
+    with open(path) as f:
+        content = f.read()
+except FileNotFoundError:
+    content = '<systemList>\n</systemList>\n'
+content = re.sub(r'[ \t]*<system>\s*<name>ps2</name>.*?</system>[ \t]*\n?', '', content, flags=re.DOTALL)
+block = '''    <system>
+        <name>ps2</name>
+        <fullname>Sony PlayStation 2</fullname>
+        <path>%ROMPATH%/ps2</path>
+        <extension>.bin .BIN .chd .CHD .ciso .CISO .cso .CSO .desktop .dump .DUMP .elf .ELF .gz .GZ .m3u .M3U .mdf .MDF .img .IMG .iso .ISO .isz .ISZ .ngr .NRG .zso .ZSO</extension>
+        <command label="PCEE2">%EMULATOR_RETROARCH% -L %CORE_RETROARCH%/pcee2_libretro.so %ROM%</command>
+        <command label="LRPS2">%EMULATOR_RETROARCH% -L %CORE_RETROARCH%/pcsx2_libretro.so %ROM%</command>
+        <command label="PCSX2">%EMULATOR_RETROARCH% -L %CORE_RETROARCH%/pcsx2_libretro.so %ROM%</command>
+        <command label="PCSX2 (Standalone)">%EMULATOR_PCSX2% -batch %ROM%</command>
+        <command label="PCSX2 Legacy (Standalone)">%EMULATOR_PCSX2-LEGACY% --nogui %ROM%</command>
+        <command label="Play! (Standalone)">%EMULATOR_PLAY!% --fullscreen --disc %ROM%</command>
+        <command label="Shortcut or script">%ENABLESHORTCUTS% %EMULATOR_OS-SHELL% %ROM%</command>
+        <platform>ps2</platform>
+        <theme>ps2</theme>
+    </system>
+'''
+content = content.replace('</systemList>', block + '</systemList>')
+with open(path, 'w') as f:
+    f.write(content)
+PS2XMLPY
+    chown "$ACTUAL_USER:$ACTUAL_USER" "$_PS2_XML"
+    log_success "PS2: added PCEE2 as the default RetroArch core (custom_systems/es_systems.xml) — ES-DE's"
+    log_info "own build doesn't ship it yet (added upstream in the not-yet-released 3.5.0)"
+
     # ── App selection ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
     echo ""
     echo "═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════"
@@ -3946,6 +4001,26 @@ RetroArch/core-based option. Same config either way — ES-DE's embedded
 RetroArch and the standalone RetroArch app (if you added it) share the
 same \`retroarch/\` cores/saves/system directories.
 
+**PS2 has three RetroArch-core alternative-emulator labels — PCEE2,
+LRPS2, and PCSX2** — and it's worth knowing they're not three different
+cores: LRPS2 and PCSX2 both point at the exact same file
+(\`pcsx2_libretro.so\`, ES-DE's own naming carried over from when the core
+was called LRPS2 upstream), while **PCEE2** (\`pcee2_libretro.so\`) is a
+genuinely separate, actively-developed libretro port
+([WizzardSK/pcee2-libretro](https://github.com/WizzardSK/pcee2-libretro)).
+ES-DE only added PCEE2 as an alternative emulator (as the new *default*,
+in fact) in version 3.5.0 — confirmed against ES-DE's own CHANGELOG.md —
+which hasn't been released yet as of this writing, so the actual ES-DE
+build \`ghcr.io/games-on-whales/es-de:edge\` ships (it always installs the
+latest *released* AppImage, confirmed against gow's own Dockerfile) is
+still on 3.4.1 and genuinely has no PCEE2 entry at all. This installer
+backfills it via \`esde-custom-systems/es_systems.xml\` (same mechanism as
+the TI-99/4A and Wii U customizations above) so it shows up as an
+alternative — and as the default — regardless. The core file itself needs
+no special handling: it's on the official libretro buildbot like every
+other core, so the normal RetroArch cores pre-download below already
+covers it.
+
 The Dolphin core's \`Sys\` folder (compatibility DB + IPL data it needs to
 boot Wii titles at all) is fetched automatically now, right after the core
 itself downloads — no more manual trip through RetroArch's own Online