PS3 Emulator RPCS3 is dropping support for Legacy Windows OS’

RPCS3 is dropping support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1, and that’s a good thing

RPCS3 is an emulator that allows gamers to play PlayStation 3 games and run PlayStation 3 software on non-PlayStation 3 hardware. Primarily, RPCS3 is used by PC gamers to play PlayStation 3 games on PC, with the emulator allowing gamers to mod these titles, unlock their framerate, and play some titles at higher than PlayStation 3 resolutions. In many cases, RPSC3 is the best way to play many classic PlayStation 3 games.

The team behind RPCS3, the PlayStation 3 emulator, have announced that the team are dropping support for legacy versions of Windows with upcoming builds of their software. This means that EOL (End of Life) versions of Windows, like Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1, will no longer support new builds of RPSC3, making Windows 10 and Windows 11 the only Windows OS’ that RPCS3 supports.

For RPCS3 users who do not wish to upgrade to a newer version of Windows, the RPCS3 team has recommended Linux as an alternative, as RPCS3 will continue to support the Linux operating system with their latest emulator builds.

The RPCS3 team’s decision to drop support to end of life versions of Windows comes after other emulators have dropped support for these older versions of Windows. While the RPCS3 team has not specified why they are dropping support for older versions of Windows, it is likely due to two primary reasons. Firstly, it makes development easier, and second, barely anyone uses these older versions of Windows anymore.

By dropping support for these OS’, the RPCS3 team can focus more time on improving their emulator and spend no time fixing bugs that only affect these older OS’. On top of that, dropping support for these OS’ can allow the team to utilise newer OS features that older versions of Windows may lack, or implement changes that wouldn’t work well with older versions of Windows.

Long term, dropping support for older versions of Windows is a good thing for RPCS3. Not many RPCS3 users are currently using these operating systems, and the RPCS3’s time is better spent focusing on newer OS’. If dropping support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 gives the RPCS3 team more development bandwidth to improve RPCS3, that will be a good result for RPCS3 fans. 

You can join the discussion on RPCS3 dropping support for Legacy Windows OS’ on the OC3D Forums.