RPCS3 announces major news about playing physical PS3 game discs on PC

From game compatibility to the feature set of the PS3 emulator, it feels like RPCS3 announces a new feature or a new success every other day. This time around, RPCS3 has announced that users can play their PS3 games directly from their physical game discs across all supported operating systems.

The RPCS3 team announced the news on its official X account, claiming that, thanks to the efforts of digant73 and Megamouse, you can run your PS3 games from physical PS3 game discs. The “plug and play” feature works across all platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux. It also doesn’t rely on any servers.

This is huge news for not only emulation enthusiasts who have a collection of PS3 games but also gamers serious about game preservation. In an environment where Sony is gearing up to move away from physical games with the start of the next console generation, this RPCS3 feature is a breath of fresh air.

The feature is not perfect, as not all external Blu-ray drives are compatible. RPCS3 has a handy quick start guide with a list of Blu-ray drives that will work. If your Blu-ray disc drive is not mentioned in the list, RPCS3 recommends checking compatibility. You can check compatibility by inserting a PS3 game disc and seeing if you can browse the files. If you can, your Blu-ray drive is compatible. 

Otherwise, you’ll have to get a compatible drive like the LG WP50NB40 (get it on Amazon).

Finally, RPCS3 has also announced that the package install times from PS3 game discs have been optimized across all the supported operating systems. So, you’ll spend less time waiting for your favorite PS3 titles to install before you can jump in.