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RPCS3 now supports playing directly from discs

Pokemon Bank Shutting Down on February 26, 2027

DeadSkullzJr · 2026-08-13T19:04:44+00:00

Source(s): https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/61543/~/pokémon-bank-service-update https://www.pokemon.com/us/news/pokemon-firered-version-and-pokemon-leafgreen-version-link-with-pokemon-home-this-october https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2026/08/pokemon-bank-is-shutting-down-in-february-2027 https://nintendoeverything.com/pokemon-bank-is-shutting-down-announcement-released/ https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/pokemon-bank-will-shut-down-in-february-2027-with-players-advised-to-transfer-data-to-pokemon-home/ As the title implies, Pokemon Bank, and by extension, Poke Transporter by collateral, will effectively be useless after February 26, 2027. Many sources aren't going into deep details of what this means for the games themselves, so I've created a list of details myself. What this means: (Legitimately speaking.) 1. Generations 1-7 on any platform outside the Nintendo Switch (2) environment(s) are unable to migrate to Pokemon Home, then into generation 8+. 2. National Pokedex access for Pokemon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon will be inaccessible, since that feature was part of Pokemon Bank. 3. You won't be able to migrate Pokemon from generation 5 into 6, then from generation 6 into 7. By extension, you won't be able to migrate Pokemon from generations 1-2 into generation 6-7. 4. You will lose any and all Pokemon stored in the service, if you leave them in Pokemon Bank after February 26, 2027. Poke Transporter acts as a "Box 101" for Pokemon Bank. It's theoretically possible to still transfer into Poke Transporter, but because Pokemon Bank will be offline, that "box" essentially becomes inaccessible. Which is why I stated that by collateral, Poke Transporter is also impacted. What still works: 1. You can still migrate from generation 3 into 4, then from generation 4 into 5. However generations 1-2 will be locked out again on these older platforms (the Nintendo 3DS family specifically, since that was the first platform that allowed you to carry the first two generations into later generations). 2. The national pokedex was not coded into Pokemon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon, instead that feature was offset into Pokemon Bank. However, you can still have all 809 Pokemon in the game, despite lacking the national pokedex feature. Where to go from here: Your only methods now are through unofficial approaches. Save editing software like PKHeX allows you to migrate Pokemon on the spot, in real time, from one generation save file to another. The process is 100% offline (minus having to download the software online of course), meaning you have 100% control over your own save data locally on your computer. You can carry this data foward into generation 8+ as well. The added bonus, it's free, unlike Pokemon Bank at one point (before it was made free, it used to cost $4.99 yearly), and Pokemon Home currently (one month = $2.99, three months = $4.99, and 12 months = $15.99 as of current). PKSM is an alternative solution that achieves many of the same goals, within the confines of a homebrewed Nintendo 3DS family system. For those wondering, NO, this won't render your migrated Pokemon illegal (unless the Pokemon are blatantly cheated in impossible ways, but even then, they would already be flagged as illegal right out the gate anyways). At least, this is true if you migrate Pokémon up to the seventh generation. Eighth generation onwards requires Pokémon Home, and the problem with that is, each Pokémon that goes through Home basically becomes ear tagged by the service with a unique tracker identifier. Currently there aren't any ways to properly generate this value so they pass the service checks. This may change in the future, however for now, if you really want your Pokémon in the eighth generation, you'll have to compromise and skip using Pokémon Home, via save editing your generation 8+ save data directly. Side note, sorry if I appended the wrong prefix.

Thread starter K3Nv4
Start date Today at 4:31 AM
Views 224
Replies 2
Likes 3

K3Nv4

I bribe staff; You > Me

Member

Level 10

Today at 4:31 AM

RPCS3 is slowly doing what Sony isn't, they announced the ability to play physical games directly to the RPSC3 emulator which allows you to play physical games you currently own. While current Blu-ray drives are limited more will surely be updated.

RPCS3:
This was made possible thanks to digant73 and Megamouse.

Recent changes to RPCS3 have extended direct disc drive play support from being Windows-only to also supporting Linux, macOS, and FreeBSD, and have optimised install times for package installations from the disc drive.

Compatible PC Blu-ray Drives

Reactions: HS2005, Exnor and Skv0ra

DragonMals

silly retro (adult) nerd reviewer

Member

Level 17

Today at 4:18 PM

Man this should be something that should be on the front page of this website. With a little extra polish to make it stand out, this is incredibly exciting news just like the other major PlayStation emulators out there.

Reactions: Exnor