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What happened
Tom’s Hardware reports that the RPCS3 PlayStation 3 emulator can now launch compatible games straight from a Blu-ray drive. The change removes the requirement to dump a disc to fixed storage before trying it. The same supported drives can still be used for dumps, and the article points readers to RPCS3’s compatibility list.
How it works
The feature depends on the drive model, not just the disc. Tom’s Hardware says internal and external Blu-ray drives can work, while extended direct-disc support is available on Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, and macOS. The article also reports optimized package-install times from optical media and says PS4 and PS5 consoles running Linux can use the same direct-disc path.
That makes the physical disc a usable input to the emulator rather than only a source that must first become a file. In preservation terms, the change is small but practical: the original object remains part of the test and play loop.
Why it matters
The best preservation tools make authentic media easier to use without pretending that a file and a disc are the same thing. RPCS3’s change lowers friction for people with compatible hardware while keeping the compatibility boundary visible.
What we don’t know yet
Drive support is not universal, and the direct-play claim comes from the RPCS3 announcement as reported by Tom’s Hardware. The article does not establish that every PS3 disc or Blu-ray drive works, and it does not settle any legal question about ownership or copying.
Source: Tom’s Hardware, Mark Tyson, September 7, 2026 - original report