The topic of physical game copies keeps coming back like a boomerang. It might seem that PC gamers have long since moved entirely to digital releases, and thanks to Sony’s decision, console owners will soon be left without boxes as well. Physical game editions may therefore disappear completely soon, and every collector’s nightmare could come true.

Games you buy digitally are not your property and can be taken away from you at any moment – how can you defend against that? It turns out that many players have not given up at all and are creating their own physical game editions. PC gamers still burn discs and print covers for them, Steam Deck owners collect games on SD cards, and projects such as Steam Game Cartridges (game cartridges made from old SSDs) are attracting huge interest.

How to protect yourself from losing digital game copies?

Creating cartridges from SSDs, while very impressive, is expensive and time-consuming. Of course, you can still – one might say, just like in the old days – burn games onto DVD or Blu-ray discs, but such a collection takes up a lot of space. So maybe SD cards? Tempting, because it’s a miniature solution, but not very impressive. So then… maybe this?

A cheap and compact way to make your own physical game editions

I went in the direction of USB flash drives, and after a few minutes of searching I found an offer for flash drives integrated with a card and the option for custom printing. Such a collection takes up very little space, but at the same time it is pleasing to the eye. Now all you need is a binder to proudly present your collection to your fellow gamer friends.

Not many stores allow you to copy working game installations onto media and make them playable offline. Not many – but we have GOG, which allows exactly that, and it is (legally owned) games from Good Old Games that work best in such a case.

Make your own cheap physical game copies

Is this the beginning of my new physical collection? I still don’t know, but it is worth archiving at least the most important titles this way – just in case, and besides, such a collection would really look quite impressive.

FAQ

Why are physical game copies so important?

It only takes a digital game store to fail for players not even to be able to log in to their accounts, and without that, there is no way to launch purchased titles and we are cut off from our collection. There have already been cases where a store simply removed a game from a library and there was nothing we could do about it.

Is creating physical copies of games yourself legal?

Archiving the games you own is the most legal approach, but it may only be used for private purposes. GOG directly allows you, under its business model and license agreement, to download an “offline installer” for every game you purchased. You can transfer that file to any physical medium and keep it for your own use.

Which stores besides GOG allow downloading DRM-free games that work without internet access?

Itch.io is the largest platform and community for indie game creators. Other stores, to a large extent (Steam, Epic, or EA App), make users dependent on their client applications.

Can physical versions created this way be launched directly from a USB flash drive?

Yes, provided you use the GOG version. However, this only makes sense in the case of older games that take up little space. Modern games, such as Cyberpunk 2077, not only take up around 100 GB, but also need to be launched from an SSD to run comfortably.

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