RPCS3 Emulator Plays PS3 Discs Directly on PC

The open-source RPCS3 emulator has introduced a significant update allowing users to play PlayStation 3 games directly from their original Blu-ray discs on personal computers. This development, announced on September 7, 2026, eliminates the need for users to first copy game data to their hard drives, streamlining the process of accessing physical game collections. The breakthrough was primarily credited to developers "digant73" and "Megamouse," who contributed crucial changes to the emulator's codebase. This new functionality extends direct disc drive support beyond Windows to include Linux, macOS, and FreeBSD, making it a more universal option for retro gaming enthusiasts. While the emulator team describes the feature as "plug and play," users must provide the disc's decryption key to the emulator the first time a game is run. Once this step is completed, the game can be read and decrypted on the fly directly from the disc. This advancement arrives at a time when physical media for games is becoming less prevalent. Sony announced in July 2026 that it would be shutting down the PlayStation Store for the PS3 in phases, with a complete closure expected by July 2027.