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Jan 12, 2026

The RPCS3 emulator now supports direct loading of ISO images.

Michael Torres
By Michael Torres Video Game News and Features Editor
Last updated: Jan 12, 2026
The rpcs3 emulator now supports direct loading of iso images

RPCS3 Emulator Now Supports Direct Loading of ISO Images

The developers of the popular PlayStation 3 emulator, RPCS3, have released a significant update that greatly simplifies the user experience—the emulator has finally added the function for direct loading of ISO files for disc-based games.

Until now, the process of launching disc games in RPCS3 was quite laborious. Users had to:

  1. Extract the ISO image to a temporary folder.
  2. Point the emulator to the path of the PS3_GAME folder.
  3. Ensure that the file structure remained intact.

Now everything has become simpler: you can simply select the .iso file in the emulator's menu or drag and drop it into the program window, and the game will launch.

The old method of launching games, of course, remains available, but ISOs with copy protection are not yet supported.